User:Visviva/Offense against the person

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A crime against the person or offence against the person is a category of crimes under the laws of many countries.[1] These crimes typically punish infringement of an individual's autonomy or bodily integrity.[2]

The boundaries of the category of crimes against the person vary. In modern legal systems, homicide is almost always included.[1] However, earlier legal theorists such as Blackstone regarded homicide as a crime of against the ruler (depriving him or her of a subject) rather than a crime against the victim. Legal systems also vary considerably in whether this category includes sexual crimes, which many codes treat separately,[1] and criminal violations of personal privacy or dignity.

In common law jurisdictions, the category of offenses against the person has been recognized since at least Blackstone's Commentaries. In addition, many countries that were under British colonial rule in the 19th or 20th centuries have retained the British Offences Against the Person Acts. Most of these countries have retained the British colonial classification of consensual sodomy as a crime against the individual, although the United Kingdom itself no longer recognizes this crime.[3]

By country[edit]

  • Australian criminal law is divided between code jurisdictions and non-code jurisdictions. Among code jurisdictions, the criminal code of Queensland recognizes a category of "offences against the person and relating to marriage".[4] In Australian law, lack of consent is commonly recognized as a necessary element of certain offences against the person, including assault and rape. Australian courts have not generally adopted the "public interest" restrictions on the requirement of non-consent that have been adopted by English courts.[5] Following the 2002 Bali bombings, the Commonwealth government amended the Criminal Code Act 1995 to establish a group of offences against the person with extraterritorial and retroactive effect, titled "Harming Australians".[6]
  • In Fijian law, groups crimes against the person are dealt with in part 10 of the Crimes Act 2009.[7] Fiji is one of many former British colonies to have retained the Offences Against the Person Act, but has removed the crime of consensual sodomy through a court decision.[3]
  • In the Russian Criminal Code, crimes against the person are addressed in Part VII, the first part of the Special Part of the Code.[8] This placement represents a departure of the modern Russian criminal code, written in 1996, which prioritizes crimes against the individual, from the Soviet-era code of 1960, which prioritized crimes against society.[8]
  • In United States criminal law, the category of "crimes" or "offenses" against the person is recognized in many state criminal codes. Jurisdictions vary in their interpretation of the category; for example, some regard robbery as a crime against the person while others consider it a crime against property, with important consequences for double jeopardy: a robber who robs the victim of two different things would be guilty of two counts of robbery if it is a crime against property, but only one if it is a crime against the person.
    Further reading: Crime against the person (United States)

Works cited[edit]

  • Bronitt, Simon (2011). "Australia". In Heller, Kevin Jon; Dubber, Markus (eds.). The Handbook of Comparative Criminal Law. Stanford University Press. pp. 49–96. ISBN 9780804777292.
  • Chalmers, James (2014). "Offenses Against the Person". In Dubber, Markus D; Hörnle, Tatjana (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Criminal Law. Oxford University Press. pp. 727–746. ISBN 9780191654596.
  • Ferguson, Pamela R (2015). Scots Criminal Law: A Critical Analysis. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 9780748695836.
  • Thaman, Stephen C. (2011). "Russia". In Heller, Kevin Jon; Dubber, Markus (eds.). The Handbook of Comparative Criminal Law. Stanford University Press. pp. 414–454. ISBN 9780804777292.
  • Yenisey, Feridun (2021). Criminal Law in Turkey. Kluwer Law International B.V. ISBN 9789403534435.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Chalmers 2014, p. 727.
  2. ^ Chalmers 2014, p. 728.
  3. ^ a b Gupta, Alok (2008-12-17). "This Alien Legacy: The Origins of "Sodomy" Laws in British Colonialism". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  4. ^ Bronitt 2011, p. 77.
  5. ^ Bronitt 2011, p. 69.
  6. ^ Bronitt 2011, p. 53.
  7. ^ "Crimes Act 2009". Laws of Fiji. 2018-03-21. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  8. ^ a b Thaman 2010, p. 435.
  9. ^ a b Ashworth 2011, p. 532.
  10. ^ Ferguson 2015, p. 243.
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