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Criminal Law

Elements and Stages of Crime

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 18-Sep-2023

Introduction

  • A crime can be defined as the commission of an act that is prohibited by law, or an omission of an act that is obligated by the law.
  • Crime is considered as social wrong committed by an individual.
  • Criminal law defines the acts which are illegal and prohibited by law.
  • Crime threatens and harms public welfare and safety. Whenever a crime happens intentionally, there is a full-fledged process or stages behind to make it happen.
  • According to Austin, “a wrong which is pursued at the discretion of the injured party and his representatives is a civil injury; a wrong which is pursued by the sovereign or his subordinates is a crime.”

Fundamental Elements of Crime

  • Human beings
  • Mens rea: Guilty mind
  • Actus reus: Illegal act or omission
  • Injury to another human being

Human being

  • The first element of crime is a human being who- must be under the legal obligation to act in a particular manner and should be a fit subject for awarding appropriate punishment.
  • Section 11 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860(IPC) provides that word ‘person’ includes a company or association or body of persons whether incorporated or not. The word ‘person’ includes artificial or juridical persons.

Mens Rea

  • The second important essential element of a crime is mens rea or evil intent or guilty mind. Mens Rea is the evil intention of knowledge to do a wrongful act voluntarily in conscious state of mind.
  • It is the guilty mind required for the commission of an offence.
  • Every crime requires a mental element and that is considered as the fundamental principle of criminal liability.
  • The basic requirement of the principle mens rea is that the accused must have been aware of those elements in his act which make the crime with which he is charged.
    There is a well-known maxim in this regard, i.e., “actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea” which means that, the guilty intention and guilty act together constitute a crime.
  • It comes from the maxim that no person can be punished in a proceeding of criminal nature unless it can be showed that he had a guilty mind.

Actus reus

  • The third essential element of a crime is actus reus. In other words, some overt act or illegal omission must take place in pursuance of the guilty intention. Actus reus is the manifestation of mens rea in the external world.
  • Merely possessing a guilty mind and thinking of committing a crime is not enough. The accused person must also act on that intention and do something in its furtherance.
  • Prof. Kenny was the first writer to use the term ‘actus reus’.

Injury

  • There can be no crime if no person faces some kind of an injury.
  • According to Section 44 of IPC, “injury” means any harm caused to a person illegally either in mind, body, reputation or property.
  • However, there can be some crimes which might not require injuries to anybody. For example, driving without a driving license is a crime even if it may not harm anybody.

Stages of crime

There are four stages of crime

  1. Intention to commit an offence
  2. Preparation to commit it
  3. Attempt to commit it
  4. The commission of the offence

Intention (1st Stage of crime)

  • Intention is the first stage in the commission of an offence and known as mental stage. Intention is the direction of conduct towards the object chosen upon considering the motive which suggests the choice.
  • Law does not take notice of an intention, mere intention to commit an offence not followed by any act, cannot constitute an offence.
  • The obvious reason for not prosecuting the accused at this stage is that it is very difficult for the prosecution to prove the guilty mind of a person.

Preparation (2nd Stage of crime)

  • Preparation refers to arranging all the essential steps to carry out the intended criminal act. Preparation is not unlawful in itself since it is difficult to prove that the essential preparations were made for the commission of the crime. However, in some exceptional circumstances, mere preparation is also punished.

Preparation When Punishable

  • Collecting arms, etc., with intention of waging war against the Government of India (Section 122 of IPC).
  • Preparing coins or government stamps for counterfeiting (Sections 233 to 235, 255, and 257 of IPC).
  • Having counterfeit money, fraudulent documents, or fake weights and measurements (Sections 242, 243, 259, 266).
  • Making plans to commit dacoity (Section 399 of IPC).

The reason not punishing the first two stages is that they are considered too remote to the completion of the intended crime. They are perceived as harmless acts.

Attempt (3rd Stage of crime)

  • The third stage is that of 'Attempt'. The first two stages generally are not punishable but once an act enters the third stage criminal liability arises.
  • The term attempt means direct movement towards the commission of a crime after necessary preparations made to carry out an offence.
  • The Indian Penal Code does not hold any specific definition of 'attempt', but Section 511 of IPC does provide punishment for stiving to commit a crime.
  • Criminal law punishes the wrongdoer for this stage depending upon the nature and gravity of the attempted offence.

Certain tests to determine whether the act in question amounts to attempt:

  • Proximity Test
    • Proximity is a linkage between time and action or to the intention. It is applied in the cases of third stage that is of attempt. It primarily focuses on whether a person is 'dangerously close' to completing the crime or 'so near' to the result that the danger of success is very high.
  • Locus Poenitentiae
    • The doctrine of ‘Locus Poenitentiae’ says that when an act is such that there is ample time with the accused to choose whether to commit such crime or not; and it is within the control of that person.
    • The intender may change his path or may fear the consequences, if the act is in control of the intended to not to commit the offence, then it is said to be mere preparation and not an attempt. Hence, it is not punishable under penal law.
  • Equivocality Test
    • This test is a combination of the above two tests. This test requires the unequivocal intention through the act done which is considered to be fulfilled beyond a reasonable doubt that the end is towards the crime intended.

Commission of Crime or Accomplishment (4th Stage of Crime)

  • Committing the crime is the final step in the process. If the accused succeeds in his attempt, he commits a crime and will be guilty of it.
  • If he fails, he will only be charged with attempting. If the crime is complete, the offender will be tried and punished as per the specific provisions provided in the Indian Penal Code.

Case Laws

  • Abhayanand Mishra v. State of Bihar (1961):
    • In this case, the appellant was a candidate appearing in an entrance examination of the Patna University for the course of M.A. in English. In his application form, the appellant had provided that he was a graduate.
    • The University, after dispatching his admit card for the examination, found the information to be forged.
    • He was convicted by the lower court and the High Court under Section 420 read with Section 511 of the Code.
    • Under the appeal before the Hon’ble Supreme Court, the contention of the appellant was that it was mere preparation to commit fraud and not an attempt.
    • The Court rejected the argument and held that when the appellant submitted the forged information, it constituted preparation to commit fraud, and when the said forged documents were dispatched, it amounted to an attempt.
    • The court reiterated that an attempt may not be seen as only the penultimate act, rather, it means any act in furtherance of the preparation.
  • R v. Prince (1875):
    • Prince took away a girl below 16 years of age from the position of father and against the will of her father. Prince argued that the girl told him that she was 18 years, and the intention was bonafide as she was looking like 18 years or above.
    • In this case, the English Court has held that he cannot be given the benefit of the doctrine of mens rea because this is the case of mistake of law, taking away a girl below 16 years is unlawful hence he was held guilty.

Conclusion

Actus reus and Mens rea both play a significant role in an offence. The stages of crime or elements of a crime include intention, preparation, attempt and accomplishment. The classification of these stages is necessary to decide the culpability of a crime at each stage.

The attempt shall not be considered only as the penultimate act of the crime. Rather, a series of acts shall constitute an attempt to commit the crime and the differentiation between preparation and attempt shall depend on the facts and circumstances of each case.