It has been written by Maithreyi Kannan Arayapakkam, a first-year law student of Sastra Deemed University.

Introduction:

Criminal Law is a vast field with many categories and sub-classifications. For instance, the Indian Penal Code itself categorises crimes into various chapters. Only the broad classification categories of criminal law are discussed in this article. Criminal offences in India are categorised into different types based on their severity and where such categories are mentioned. The Penal Code of the country classifies offences by the things the offences affect like crimes against people, against the state, financial crimes etc. On the other hand, the CrPC classifies offences based on their severity and the punishments such offences result in like cognisable, bailable offences.

Under the Indian Penal Code crimes are categorised into five broad categories - Crimes against a person, Crimes against property, Inchoate offences, Statutory offences and Financial crimes.

Similarly, the Criminal Procedure Code classifies crimes based on how they are handled in courts. These categories are Cognizable, Non-cognizable, Bailable, Non-bailable, Compoundable and Non-compoundable offences.

Categories under the IPC:

i) Crimes against a person

Crimes that cause physical harm to a person like assault, or battery come under this category. Use of force or even a threat of force to inflict some bodily harm amounts to such a crime. This involves injury or threat of injury to the physical body of a person. Furthermore, this offence is an individual offence. This means that there can only be one victim against whom such a crime has been committed. Assuming that a person has committed a crime of assault against various people then all the people in the group will be considered individual victims and not victims as a group. In this way, such a crime is distinguished from crimes against society or state. Crimes against a person are considered to be the most serious offence that can be committed and such crimes result in the severest of punishments. These crimes infringe on the physical autonomy right to life and personal liberty of a person.

A few examples of such crimes are sexual offences like rape, sexual assault and other offences such as murder, homicide, kidnapping, arson, assault, battery[1].

ii) Crimes against property

Property right is a right guaranteed to all individuals by the Constitution of the country. Seeing as it is a Constitutional right, no individual has the liberty to take away such right from another person. If they do so it will result in a crime against property being committed. Crimes against property involve interference with the property of another person. Such harm need not only be caused physically, it can also be mental harm caused that interferes with a person’s right to enjoy their property. Such an interference must result in the victim being unable to use or enjoy their property. Property in such cases includes both tangible and intangible property. Tangible properties are the physical properties visible to the common eye whereas intangible properties are properties such as trademarks and copyrights[2].

A few examples of such crimes are burglary, theft, larceny, dacoity and shoplifting.

iii) Inchoate Offences

The word inchoate means an incomplete action. From this, it is understood that such offences are incomplete. Inchoate offences refer to the crime of initiating action to commit an offence but not necessarily committing the offence. For an offence to be inchoate there must be an active act of taking steps to commit an offence. A person need not complete or succeed in committing an offence for him to come under the purview of these offences[3].

In criminal law for an offence to be committed there needs to be two essentials - Mens Rea (guilty mind) and Actus Reus (guilty act). In the case of inchoate offences, there is no need for a guilty act to be present as it involves only mens rea and no guilty act committed as of yet.

Inchoate offences punish people for the actions they take to commit an offence and not for the commission of an offence. Certain defences apply to such offences like the defence of abandonment or impossibility[4].

An example of such crimes are attempt, abetting and conspiracy.

iv) Statutory Crimes

These crimes are the crimes that are specified and defined in a separate legislation other than the common law. These crimes are prescribed under certain statutes and the rules and regulations relating to such offences will arise mainly from that separate statute. Punishments, penalties and definitions of such crimes will be given clearly and precisely in the separate law passed by the legislature. They are different from regular offences as they may not come under the penal code which is the general law of the country.

Examples of such crimes are DUIs or driving under the influence which is governed separately by the Motor Vehicles Act and acts relating to dowry which although given in the IPC also has separate legislation governing it.

v) Financial Crimes

In the fast-growing world of technology, cybercrimes are prevalent all over the world. Criminal activities relating to any financial aspect or involving money are termed as financial crimes. Such crimes use illegal means to gain monetary and economic benefits. These crimes have been taken to a whole new level due to technology. The use of deception or fraud to gain financial advantage is one of the common aspects of such crimes. These crimes range from being committed at an individual petty level to multinational masterminded groups[5].

Examples of such crimes are fraud and money laundering.

Conclusion:

It is not very easy to categorise and define criminal law into definite categories. Considering that the criminal laws in the country are evolving this becomes even harder. On the other hand, unless the laws are categorised into a basic structure they tend to be very hard to understand and implement. So it is safe to say that although such categories may not be concrete, at this point in time they are the most useful.

REFERENCES:

[1] Justia,’Criminal Offences’<https://www.justia.com/criminal/offenses/> (accessed August 3, 2024)

[2] Justia,’Criminal Offences’<https://www.justia.com/criminal/offenses/> (accessed August 3, 2024)

[3] Cornell Law School LII Wex, ‘Inchoate offences’ <https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/inchoate_offense/> (accessed August 4, 2024)

[4] Ipleaders,’Inchoate offences under IPC’ (Ipleaders,January 1, 2021) <https://blog.ipleaders.in/inchoate-offences-under-ipc/> (accessed August 4, 2024)

[5] Interpol,’Financial Crime’ <https://www.interpol.int/en/Crimes/Financial-crime/> (accessed August 4, 2024)