Offence

In law, an offence is a violation of the criminal law, an act considered as having caused harm to the public, as opposed to a civil wrong, causing harm to someone under civil law. An offence, if discovered, is a likely start of criminal procedure.

In England and Wales, as well as in Hong Kong, the term "offence" means the same thing as, and is interchangeable with, the term "crime",They are further split into:

Summary offences

Indictable offences

Any given jurisdiction's definitions of the two respective terms may differ;

In some countries, USA for example, offences can be further divided into misdemeanours and felonies.

In common law usage, 'offence' differs from 'crime' in that there is typically no victim, but the action remains prohibited by statute.

A summary offence is a crime in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded against summarily, without the right to a jury trial and/or indictment.

An indictment (pron.: /ɪnˈdaɪtmənt/ in-dyt-mənt), in the common law system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an offence that requires an indictment.

A felony is a serious crime in some common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors. Many common law countries have now abolished the felony/misdemeanor distinction and replaced it with other distinctions such as between indictable offences and summary offences. A felony is generally considered to be a crime of "high seriousness", while a misdemeanor is not.

A person convicted in a court of law of a felony crime is known as a felon. In the United States, where the felony/misdemeanor distinction is still widely applied, the federal government defines a felony as a crime punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of one year. If punishable by exactly one year or less, it is classified as a misdemeanor. The individual states may differ in this definition, using other categories as seriousness or context.

Similar to felonies in some civil law countries (Italy, etc.) are delicts, whereas in others (France, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland etc.) crimes (more serious) and delicts (less serious).

In most common law jurisdictions, an indictment was handed up by a grand jury, which returned a "true bill" if it found cause to make the charge, or "no bill" if it did not find cause. The right of one accused of a felony or serious crime to have the charges reviewed for probable cause by a grand jury before being tried by a petit jury, except for certain cases tried in courts-martial, is secured by the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, but this has been abolished in most parts of the world.

In many common law jurisdictions (e.g. the Republic of Ireland, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Australia, New Zealand), an indictable offence is an offence which can only be tried on an indictment after a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is a prima facie case to answer or by a grand jury (in contrast to a summary offence). In the United States, a crime of similar severity is a felony, although it too proceeds after an indictment.

Some offences such as murder and rape are considered so serious that they can only be tried on indictment at the Crown Court where the widest range of sentencing powers is available to the judge.

The expression indictable-only offence was defined by section 51(1) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, as originally enacted, as an offence triable only on indictment. Sections 51 and 52 of, and Schedule 3 to, that Act abolished committal proceedings for such offences and made other provisions in relation to them.

When the accused is charged with an indictable only offence, he is sent to the Crown Court for trial. The rules are different in England and Wales in respect of those under 18 years of age.

Felonies include but are not limited to the following:

Murder;

Rape;

Aggravated assault and/or battery;

Arson;

Robbery;

Burglary;

Various forms of fraud

The manufacture, sale, distribution, or possession with intent to distribute of certain types and/or quantities of illegal drugs;

In some states, the simple possession (possession without intent to distribute, e.g., for personal use) of certain types of illegal drugs, usually in more than a certain quantity but regardless of quantity for some drugs in some jurisdictions (such as Virginia for cocaine and heroin);

Grand larceny or grand theft, i.e., larceny or theft above a certain statutorily established value or quantity of goods; and

Vandalism on federal property.

Treason;

Kidnapping;

Perjury;

Check fraud;

Copyright infringement;

Broadly, felonies can be characterized as either violent or nonviolent:

Violent offenses usually contain some element of force or a threat of force against a person. Some jurisdictions classify as violent certain property crimes involving a strong likelihood of psychological trauma to the property owner; for example, Virginia treats both common-law burglary (the breaking and entering of a dwelling house at night with the intent to commit larceny, assault and battery, or any felony therein) and statutory burglary (breaking and entering with further criminal intent but without the dwelling-house or time elements, such that the definition applies to break-ins at any time and of businesses as well as of dwelling houses) as felonies.

Most offenses involving drugs or property alone are characterized as nonviolent.

Some offenses, though similar in nature, may be felonies or misdemeanors depending on the circumstances. For example, the illegal manufacture, distribution or possession of controlled substances may be a felony, although possession of small amounts may be only a misdemeanor. Possession of a deadly weapon may be generally legal, but carrying the same weapon into a restricted area such as a school may be viewed as a serious offense, regardless of whether there is intent to use the weapon. Additionally, driving while intoxicated in some states may be a misdemeanor if a first offense, but a felony on subsequent offenses.

"The common law divided participants in a felony into four basic categories:

(1) first-degree principals, those who actually committed the crime in question; (2) second-degree principals, aiders and abettors present at the scene of the crime;

(3) accessories before the fact, aiders and abettors who helped the principal before the basic criminal event took place; and

(4) accessories after the fact, persons who helped the principal after the basic criminal event took place. In the course of the 20th century, however, American jurisdictions eliminated the distinction among the first three categories." Gonzales v. Duenas-Alvarez, 549 U.S. 183 (2007) (citations omitted).

A felony may be punishable with imprisonment for one or more years or death in the case of the most serious felonies, such as murder. Indeed, at common law when the British and American legal systems divorced in 1776, felonies were crimes for which the punishment was either death or forfeiture of property. All felonies remain considered a serious crime, but concerns of proportionality (i.e., that the punishment fit the crime) have in modern times prompted legislatures to require or permit the imposition of less serious punishments, ranging from lesser terms of imprisonment to the substitution of a jail sentence or even the suspension of all incarceration contingent upon a defendant's successful completion of probation. Standards for measurement of an offense's seriousness include attempts to quantitatively estimate and compare the effects of a crime upon its specific victims or upon society generally.

In some states, all or most felonies are placed into one of various classes according to their seriousness and their potential punishment upon conviction. The number of classifications and the corresponding crimes vary by state and are determined by the legislature. Usually, the legislature also determines the maximum punishment allowable for each felony class; doing so avoids the necessity of defining specific sentences for every possible crime. For example:

Virginia classifies most felonies by number, ranging from Class 6 (least severe: 1 to 5 years in prison or up to 12 months in jail) through Class 2 (20 years to life, e.g., first-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding) up to Class 1 (life imprisonment or the death penalty, reserved for certain types of murders). Some felonies remain outside the classification system.

New York State classifies felonies by letter, with some classes divided into sub-classes by Roman numeral; classes range from Class E (encompassing the least severe felonies) through Classes D, C, B, and A–II up to Class A–I (encompassing the most severe).

Massachusetts classifies as an offense which carries any prison time.

Summary conviction offences

Accused must be charged with a summary conviction within 6 months after the act happened. Note that the statute of limitations does not apply to the Criminal Code. Limitation periods are set out in the Criminal Code directly.

The police can arrest under summary conviction without an arrest warrant if found committing a summary offense notwithstanding s. 495(2)(c) of the Criminal Code

If the police do not find committing a summary offense, an arrest warrant is required.

Accused does not have to submit fingerprints when charged under Summary Conviction.

Appeals of summary conviction offences go first to the highest trial court within the jurisdiction (e.g. provincial superior court in Alberta is the Court of Queen’s Bench).

After Provincial Superior Court a further appeal would go to the Provincial Court of Appeal (e.g. the Court of Appeal of Alberta), and then finally to the Supreme Court of Canada, but as a practical matter very few summary convictions are ever heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Accused convicted under summary conviction are eligible for a pardon after 5 years provided the accused is not convicted of any further offences during that period.

Almost always heard first in a provincial court (although some exceptions apply, such as a summary conviction offence included for trial with an indictable offence).

Indictable offences

There is no time limit to when charges can be laid, e.g. an accused can be charged 20 years after an act has occurred. The exception to this point is treason, which has a 3-year limitation period.

Police do not require a warrant to arrest under an indictable offence: see S.495(1)(a) Criminal Code of Canada

Accused has to submit fingerprints when required to appear to answer to an indictable offence.

Appeals always go to the Provincial Court of Appeal first, and then on to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Accused convicted under an indictable offence can apply for pardon after 10 years.

In civil law jurisdictions (countries), not all crimes are (criminal) offences. That is to say, not all breaches of criminal law will be tried by a court of law; the less serious ones can be punished by the police or some administrative body, or by a lower court. Thus offences are often divided into two or three categories.

Particular classification and terminology varies widely from country to country. In France for example:

Contravention – the least serious offences, such as driving offences (somewhat overlapping with infractions of summary offences in common law).

Delict – offences requiring a prison sentence or a large fine. (In other countries, though, delict can have completely different meaning similar to tort in common law.)

Crime – the most serious crimes punishable by a hefty prison sentence (akin to felony).

Date: 2015-01-29; view: 937