StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Statute and Its Role in Criminal Investigation - Assignment Example

Cite this document
Summary
Statute & its Role in Criminal Investigation Statute & its Role in Criminal Investigation Customer inserts his/her name University Statutes A formal, written document passed by a legislative authority that direct and administers a state, city or country is called statute…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.8% of users find it useful
Statute and Its Role in Criminal Investigation
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Statute and Its Role in Criminal Investigation"

Statute & its Role in Criminal Investigation Statute & its Role in Criminal Investigation inserts his/her Statutes A formal, written document passed by a legislative authority that direct and administers a state, city or country is called statute. A statute is typically an instrument to command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statute, sometimes referred as legislation or black letter law, differ from law made by legislative bodies and regulations issued by government agencies. Ideally statutes must be in harmony with the constitution of the country and thus considered to be the primary source of law.

Statutes are unlike common law and require force from the time of their passage unless otherwise provided. There are various kinds of statutes; namely, public or private, declaratory or remedial, temporary or perpetual. Importance Statute law is important because it is the codified will of Parliament. As Parliament is the elected body representing the people therefore statute law is the will of the people. Statutes determine the basis of law which is then applied and expanded upon by judges in the case law.

With no statutes the law would be left freely on the judges for development which could lead to inconsistency and questions of accountability.  Though once a Statute becomes 'Constitutional' the actual statute isn't as important, but the themes, case law and principles it entrenches in the Constitution are of very much importance. Sarah Stroud & Christine Tappolet (2003) (p.239) People generally refer to statutes (sometimes called codes) when they talk about "what the law says" or "what the law is".

Statutes are created by the U.S. Congress and by the state legislators to lay out the ground rules of "the law." In case of disputes over the meaning of statutes, state and federal courts issue court opinions that interpret the statutes more clearly which is referred to as "case law." Statute 21-3209: Compulsion The statute which I have chosen for interpretation is taken from chapter 21 which deals with Crimes and Punishments; Article 32 which discusses the Principles of Criminal Liability. Criminal Law is defined as a collection of rules that define behavior that is not allowed because it is held to intimidate, threaten, harm or endanger the safety and wellbeing of people, and that sets out the penalty and chastisement to be imposed on people who do not obey these laws.

Criminal liability is the section that defines what create charge on the accused. It identifies and distinguishes the claim of charge on an individual with respect to the real life scenarios. The Statute undertaken here for discussion deals with a similar scenario where the person is not held guilty of a crime other than murder which he performs under the coercion, compulsion or threat of the forthcoming infliction of death or bodily harm upon him or upon his immediate family members like; spouse, parent, child, brother or sister if he does not perform such conduct.

Compulsion literally means an irrational behavior or mannerism that is very difficult to resist. However in law it is explained as the forcible inducement to an act. Michael Smith (2003), (p.188) Compulsion can be lawful or unlawful; when a man is compelled by law making authority to do something which he might or might not prefer will affect the validity of the act. For example; when regulatory authorities impose taxes on individuals it is their duty to abide by them or if a court compels a party to execute a deed under the pain of attachment for contempt, the grantor cannot object to it on the ground of compulsion.

Unlawful compulsion is when a person is forced or threatened to do a task. For e.g; the police men urged a person to admit undue charges and threaten him that otherwise he will be killed or his family would be hampered, the act done by such compulsion would be void. However compulsion can never be presumed. Gary Watson (1999), (p.291) Though mostly people conceive law as a hurdle or troubling element but the truth is that law is created to make and maintain peace and harmony among mankind. Same is the case of this interesting and important statute which advocates and safeguards the right of a person.

Law is a hybrid which encompasses all the possibilities a person could face and then creates a margin between the guilty and the innocent.  A person cannot be claimed to charge if he has acted as a mere instrument who do something not only without will but against his will under an imminent and impending force inducing a well-grounded apprehension of death or serious bodily harm if the act is not done. In this scenario, the accused must have acted not only without a will but against his will under the irresistible force and cannot consist of an impulse or passion or obfuscation.

In a case, the Supreme Court excused an accused as an accessory, after it was proved that he was smacked with the butt of a gun by the real killers to force him to bury the victim. The court found that he was not legally responsible because he acted under the compulsion of an irresistible force. A person who acts under the compulsion is like one who acts under the impulse of an uncontrollable fear of equal or greater injury is exempt from criminal liability because he does not act with. References Michael Smith, 2003, Rational Capacities, Or How to Distinguish Recklessness, Weakness, and Compulsion.

Oxford: Clarendon Press Sarah Stroud & Christine Tappolet, 2003, Weakness of Will and Practical Irrationality, Oxford University Press, Clarendon Press   Gary Watson,1999, Disordered Appetites: Addiction, Compulsion and Dependence, Russell Sage Publications.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Statute and Its Role in Criminal Investigation Assignment”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/law/1436481-what-the-statute-means-and-how-it-might-effect-a
(Statute and Its Role in Criminal Investigation Assignment)
https://studentshare.org/law/1436481-what-the-statute-means-and-how-it-might-effect-a.
“Statute and Its Role in Criminal Investigation Assignment”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/law/1436481-what-the-statute-means-and-how-it-might-effect-a.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Statute and Its Role in Criminal Investigation

Ethics and Criminal Justice: A Case Analysis

By extension, the members of the public have a feeling that in case they motivate the investigator then they would have facilitated the process of investigation and the apprehension of criminal.... In any investigation, information especially from the public is considered critical in any nature since if used well, can provide leads to the origin of crime and possibly to the perpetrator.... In such a situation, the investigation process would become more complicated....
12 Pages (3000 words) Essay

UK Security Management Practice and Regulatory Acts

In the UK, several national government agencies are entrusted with investigations including the ordinary police or the criminal investigation division or Scotland Yard and the secret intelligence agencies.... This paper makes a conclusion that security management as practised by both public and private investigators is thus confronted by many obstacles as they seek research or information on individuals in addition to when doing other security duties particularly due to the proliferation of many indistinct rules that grant much advantage to subjects under investigation and even criminal elements that are protected by these legislative Acts....
15 Pages (3750 words) Essay

A Hierarchical, Objectives-Based Framework for the Digital Investigations Process

The key threat to the validity of the research and its findings is that there is only one data source used, and that is a study that was done six years prior to the conduct of the research being described here.... nbsp; The sample data is taken from existing studies, in this case, a study from the National Crime Panel that details the determination of available data from mapped an unmapped information sources in crime investigation settings.... Among the findings are that the status quo, where police learned on data that they had at their disposal historically for particular crimes, yielded crime investigation outcomes that were far from ideal....
11 Pages (2750 words) Research Paper

The Scope of Job and Role of a Forensic Investigator

For this reason, the central role of any forensic investigator is not only in executing investigation to unearth the truth about a mystery but also to apply his or her prowess to seize and safeguard obtained evidence.... n this reflective report, I will emulate on the role and function of a forensics investigator when performing a forensic investigation and the responsibility that the forensics investigator has for seizing and safeguarding evidence.... Typically, digital forensic is an investigation process that uses scientific and technological knowledge to examine digital objects and consequently develop and test theories....
12 Pages (3000 words) Coursework

Law and Criminology: Ability to Conduct an Investigation

life or death); part of a criminal investigation; legitimate interests of the data controller with the rights of the subject.... The paper “Law and Criminology: Ability to Conduct an investigation” seeks to evaluate the data protection act 1998, which came into force with the sole purpose of protecting the fundamental rights and freedom of natural persons.... hellip; The author states that the issues of privacy gain ground after the Data Protection Committee expressed its concern about the collection and compilation of centralized data by the Government....
15 Pages (3750 words) Research Paper

Hypnosis in Criminology

It is encouraged that the use of hypnosis for forensic investigation is continuously done because it includes induction method that can easily yield all the necessary information from victim and witness for the prosecution of any case.... investigation is suggested as the best way to counter them and assess the tangibility of problem that may occur in a society.... Criminological investigations are considered to be very subtle in nature investigations and every pattern, which would be assessed during investigation, may lead to a number of indications of crime act....
15 Pages (3750 words) Coursework

Foundations of the Development and Functions of Police

The approach of dealing with crime was often questioned because of its reactive nature.... This paper under the title "Foundations of the Development and Functions of Police" investigates the issue of the daily policing practice in the US which is undoubtedly interesting considering the milestone and evolution it has undergone to be what it is today....
7 Pages (1750 words) Assignment

How Important is the Media in the Investigation of Serious Crime

On the other hand, a criminal investigation is a process of ascertaining, collecting, organizing, identifying.... criminal investigation process involves initial descriptive steps where the investigator gives an in-depth description of the things and people that are present in the crime scene without making inferences concerning the crime or the person present.... This paper highlights that an investigation refers to the patient, procedural inquiry or scrutiny....
12 Pages (3000 words) Research Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us