- Common law offences
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Common law offences are crimes under English criminal law and the related criminal law of Commonwealth of Nations countries. These are offences of the common law which are developed entirely by the courts over the years, and for which there is no actual legislation.
The various common law offences are developed using the concept of malum in se.[1]
Contents
Australia
In Australia Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) abolished all common law federal offences.[2] The Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, Queensland, Tasmania, and Western Australia have also abolished common law State offences. Common law State offences still apply in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria
Canada
In Canada, the 1953 consolidation of criminal law abolished all common law offences, except Contempt of Court under section 9 of the Criminal Code of Canada.
England and Wales
In England and Wales, the Law Commission's programme of codification of the criminal law had the eventual aim to abolish all the remaining common law offences and replace them, where appropriate, with offences precisely defined by statute. The common law offences were seen as unacceptably vague and open to development by the courts in silly ways which might offend the principle of certainty. However, they still exist under English law. In England and Wales, common law offences are punishable by unlimited fines and unlimited imprisonment.
Extant common law offences are listed at English criminal law#Common law offences and abolished etc offences are listed at History of English criminal law#Common law offences.
New Zealand
In New Zealand, the Crimes Act 1961 abolished common law offences, except for contempt of court and for courts martial.[3]
United States
Common law offences no longer exist at the federal level, as per the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Hudson and Goodwin, 11 U.S. 32 (1812). At the state level, the situation varies. Some states, such as New Jersey, have abolished common law crimes (see State v. Palendrano), while others, such as Kentucky, have chosen to continue to recognize them (see Commonwealth v. Donoghue).
List of offences under the common law of England
This list includes offences that have been abolished or codified in one or more or all jurisdictions:
- Murder
- Manslaughter
- Mayhem
- Common assault aka assault
- Battery
- Assault with intent to rob
- Assault with intent to rape
- Kidnapping
- False imprisonment
- Rape
- Arson
- Larceny
- Robbery
- Burglary
- Concealment of treasure trove
- Cheating
- Forgery
- High treason
- Petty treason
- Misprision of treason (disputed - alleged to be statutory)
- Compounding treason
- Sedition
- Seditious libel
- Contempt of the sovereign
- Misconduct in public office
- Refusal to execute public office
- Doing an act tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice - a.k.a. perverting the course of justice, defeating the ends of justice, obstructing the administration of justice
- Contempt of court a.k.a criminal contempt
- Misprision of felony (disputed - alleged not to exist)
- Compounding a felony
- Fabrication of false evidence
- Escape
- Permitting an escape
- Breach of prison/breaking prison
- Rescue/rescuing a prisoner in custody
- Effecting a public mischief (disputed - held to no longer exist)
- Riot
- Rout
- Affray
- Unlawful assembly
- Breach of the peace
- Defamatory libel
- Public nuisance
- Obscene libel
- Blasphemy
- Blasphemous libel
- Incitement
- Maintenance
- Champerty
- Embracery
- Challenging to fight
- Eavesdropping
- Being a common barrator - see Barratry
- Being a common scold
- Being a common nightwalker
- Outraging public decency
- Forcible entry
- Forcible detainer
- Attempt
- Conspiracy
- Bribery
See also criminal libel
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This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
See also
References
- ^ Canadian Law Dictionary, John A. Yogis, Q.C., Barrons: 2003
- ^ History of Australian Criminal Law, Parliament of Australia Library
- ^ Crimes Act 1961, Part 1, sec. 9 [1]
External links
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