Legal Dictionary of Pakistan

Central Criminal Court

The Crown Court sitting in London, formerly known as the Old Bailey. ( The Central Criminal Court, created in 1834, has jurisdiction to try all indictable offenses committed in London. See CROWN COURT.

Central Criminal Court Act

See PALMER'S ACT.

Court of Criminal Appeals

1. For each armed service, an intermediate appellate court that reviews court-martial decisions. ( The court was established by the Military Justice Act of 1968. 10 USCA §§ 859-876. - Formerly termed Court of Military Review (abbr. CMR). 2. In some jurisdictions, such as Texas and Oklahoma, the highest appellate court that hears criminal cases.

Criminal

n. 1. One who has committed a criminal offense. 2. One who has been convicted of a crime.

Criminal assault

an assault considered a crime and not as a tort. 0 this term isola the legal elements that give rise to criminal liability even though the act might also have been tortious.

Criminalism

1 A pathological tendency toward criminality. 2. Archaic. The branch of psychiatry dealing with habitual criminals.

Criminalist

1 A person who practices criminalistics as a profession. 2. Archaic. One versed in criminal law. 3. Archaic. A psychiatrist who treats criminals. 4. Archaic. A habitual criminal.

Criminalistics

n. The science of crime detection, usu. involving the subjection of physical evidence to laboratory analysis, including ballistic testing, blood-fluid and tissue analysis, and other tests that are helpful in determining what happened. Cf. CRIMINOLOGY.

Criminaliter

adu. [Latin] Criminally. Cf. CIVILITER.

Criminality

1 The state or quality of being criminal. 2. An act or practice that constitutes a crime.

Criminalization

n.1. The act or an instance of making a previously lawful act criminal, usu. by passing a statute. Cf. DECRIMINALIZATION; CIVILIZATION. 2. The process by which a person develops into a criminal. - criminalize, ub.

Criminalize

ub. To make illegal; to outlaw.

Cum actio fuerit mere criminalis, institui poterit ab initio criminaliter vel civiliter

When an action is purely criminal, it can be instituted from the beginning either criminally or civilly.

Decriminalization

n. The legislative act or process of legalizing an illegal act <many doctors seek the decriminalization of euthanasia. - decriminalize, ub. Cf. CRIMINALIZATION (1).

Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure

The rules governing criminal proceedings in the U.S. district courts. - Abbr. Fed. R. Crim. P.

In civilibus ministerium excusat, in criminalibus non item

In civil matters, agency (or service) excuses, but not so in criminal matters.

In criminalibus probationes debent esse luce clariores

In criminal cases, the proofs ought to be clearer than light.

In criminalibus suicit generalis malitia intentionis cum facto paris gradus

In criminal cases, a general malice of intention is sufficient if combined with an act of equal or corresponding degree.

In criminalibus voluntas reputabitur pro facto

In criminal matters, the intent will be reckoned as the deed. ( In criminal attempts or conspiracy, the intention is considered in place of the act. 3 Inst. 106.

International Criminal Court.

A court that was established by the U.N. Security Council to adjudicate international crimes such as terrorism. ( The court was repeatedly proposed and discussed throughout the 20th century, but was established only in 1998. In the absence of any international criminal code, the court applies general principles of international criminal law. - Abbr. ICC.

International Criminal Police Organization.

An international law-enforcement group founded in 1923 and headquartered in Lyons, France. ( The organization gathers and shares information on transnational criminals with more than 180 member nations. - Also termed Interpol.

accusation,n. 1. A formal charge of criminal wrongdoing. 0 The accusation is usu. presenter) to a court or magistrate having jurisdiction tf) inquire into the alleged crime. 2. An informs i statement

actio criminalis

A criminal action.

career criminal

See RECIDIVIST.

criminal action

An action instituted by the government to punish offenses against the public.

criminal anarchy

The doctrine that advocates the violent overthrow of government. 0 To promote this doctrine is a criminal offense. 18 USCA § 2385.

criminal anthropology

See CRIMINOLOGY.

criminal assault

See ASSAULT.

criminal attempt

See ATTEMPT.

criminal battery

See BATTERY.

criminal behavior

Conduct that causes social harm and is defined and punished by law. criminal capacity See CAPACITY (3).

criminal capacity

The mental ability that a person must possess to be held accountable for a crime; the ability to understand right from wrong. See INSANITY; INFANCY.

criminal charge

See CHARGE (1).

criminal code

A code, usu. enacted by a legislature, setting out the elements of crimes and specifying punishments for their commission.

criminal coercion

See COERCION.

criminal coercion.

Coercion intended to restrict another's freedom of action by: (1) threatening to commit a criminal act against that person; (2) threatening to accuse that act; expose a secret that either would subject the victim to hatred, contempt, or ridicule or would impair the victim's credit or goodwill, or (4) taking or withholding official action or causing an official to take or withhold action. 2. Conduct that constitutes the improper use of economic power to compel another to submit to the wishes of one who wields it. - Also termed economic coercion. 3. Hist. A husband's actual or supposed control or influence over his wife's actions. ( Under the common-law doctrine of coercion, a wife who committed a crime IN her husband's presence was presumed to have been coerced by him and thus had a complete defense. Courts have abolished this doctrine. - coercive, adj. - coercer, n.

criminal conspiracy

See CONSPIRACY.

criminal contempt

An act that obstructs justice or attacks the integrity of the court. ( A criminal-contempt proceeding is punitive in nature. - Also termed common-law contempt."Criminal contempt is a crime in the ordinary sense; it is a violation of the law, a public wrong which is punishable by fine or imprisonment or both." Bloom u. Illinois, 391 U.S. 194, 201, 88 S.Ct. 1477, 1481 (1968).

criminal conversation

Hist. A tort action for adultery, brought by a husband against a third party who engaged in sexual intercourse with his wife. -- Abbr. crim. con. "An action (whether of trespass or case is uncertain, Vnrt probably trespass) formerly lay against one who ir,,i committed adultery with the wife of the plaintiff. It wa, known as an action for criminal conversation. The wit, . consent was irrelevant. The action was distinct from thrit of enticement: one may commit adultery without enticing a wife away from her husband. The action was n, doubt a necessity when divorce could only be obtained be Act of Parliament: as Parliament was not a tribuirnl suitable for trying allegations of adultery it was rea-uable to require the petitioner to establish the truth of in, allegations before a court of law. The action might .:,so have been justified on the ground that the plaintiff i• in substance complaining of the invasion of privacy of his marriage, and the insult thereby caused to his honour a, a husband." R.F.V. Heuston salmond on the law of torts 358 (17th ed. 1977)

criminal damage to property

1. fojucy, destruction, or substantial impairment to the tt~e of property (other than by fire or explosion without the consent of a person having an interest in the property. 2. Injury, destruction, or substantial impairment to the use of property (other than by fire or explosion) with the intent to injure or defraud an insurer or penholder. Cf. ARSON.

criminal defendant

The accused in a criminal proceeding.

criminal desertion

A husband's or wife's willful failure without just cause to provide for the care, protection, or support of a spouse who is in ill health or needy circumstances.

criminal forfeiture

See forfeiture.

criminal forfeiture.

A governmental proceeding brought against a person as punishment for the person's criminal behavior.

criminal fraud

See FRAUD

criminal homicide

1. Homicide prohibited and punishable by law, such as murder or manslaughter. 2. The act of purposely, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently causing the death of another human being. Model Penal Code § 210.1 (1997).

criminal infringement

The statutory criminal offense of either (1) willfully infringing a copyright to obtain a commercial advantage or financial gain (17 USCA § 506; 18 USCA § 2319), or (2) trafficking in goods or services that bear a counterfeit mark (18 USCA § 2320). ( Under the second category, the statute imposes criminal penalties if the counterfeit mark is (1) identical with, or substantially indistinguishable from, a mark registered on the Principal Register of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and (2) likely to confuse or deceive the public.

criminal intent

1 MENS REA. 2. AIi mtont to commit an actus reus without any justification. excuse, or other defense. "The phrase 'criminal intent' is one that has been h,r~.. died about with various meanings not carefully distrn. guished. At times it has been used in the sense of t?.e 'intent to do wrong' (the outline of the mental pato rn which is necessary for crime in general), - as for example, in the phrase 'the mental element commw;h called criminal intent.' At times it has been used in the sense of mens rea as the mental element requisite for guilt of the very offense charged, 'a varying state of mind which is the contrary of an innocent state of mind, whatever may be pointed out by the nature of the crime as an innocent state of mind.' Often it is used to include criminal negligence as well as an actual intent to do the harmful deed, although at other times such negligence is referred to as a substitute, so to speak, for criminal intent in connection with certain offenses. Occasionally is found in the sense of an intent to violate the law, -implying a knowledge of the law violated. On the other hand, as such knowledge is a factor not ordinarily required for conviction it has been pointed out that to establish ignorance of the law does not disprove criminal intent. Thus it has been said (assuming the absence of any circumstance of exculpation) 'whenever an act is criminal, the party doing the act is chargeable with criminal intent.' . . . This suggests a helpful guide for the use of the phrase 'criminal intent.' Some other term such as mens rea or guilty mind should be employed for more general purposes, and 'criminal intent' be restricted to those situations in which there is (1) an intent to do the actus reus, and (2) no circumstance of exculpation." Rollin M. Perkins & Ronald N. Boyce, Criminal Law 8.32-34 (3d ed. 1982).

criminal jurisdiction

A court's power to hear criminal cases.

criminal justice

1 The methods by which a society deals with those who are accused ofhaving committed crimes. See LAW ENFORCEMENT (1). 2. The field of study pursued by those seeking to enter law enforcement as a profession. 0 Many colleges offer degrees in criminal justice, typically after two to four years of study. - Also termed (in sense 2) police science; law enforcement.