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Parties to crime
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Introduction
It has been a general practice to see that in the commission of a crime, more than one criminal defendant plays his/her role. Defendants with a common purpose are witnessed to be acting in complicity. Cases in which more than one defendant is involved make it difficult for the concerned authorities to hold responsible the criminals i.e. which crime is committed by whom.
Discussion
Various criminal cases become more difficult as the number of criminal's increase. There are some crimes that involve more than one criminal i.e. solicitation and conspiracy etc. division of the parties over the crimes helps in deciding which criminal should be held responsible for a certain crime. According to Common Law, parties to a crime were placed into four categories. All the four parties to a crime are punished as per the severity of the crime that they have committed. The first-degree party involved in the crime is the one who actually committed the crime. Secondly, there comes the party that was present at the time of the crime and assisted that first-degree criminal party in the commission of the crime. On the third stage, there comes the party to the crime, who was not present at the time of committing the crime, but helped the two earlier parties. At the fourth stage comes the party (known as the accessory after the fact), who helped the actual and assisting party in escaping after the crime had been committed (du Bois-Pedain,et,al,2019).
Taking a look at the latest constitutional law, it has been observed that most of the states, as well as the federal government, have divided the parties to a crime into two main groups; one is the California Penal Code, Section 31. In this category, all the people are being included who are concerned with the commission of the crime (though it is a misdemeanor or the felony). Whether they aid the commission of a crime or encourage or advise the crime's commission, all parties are guilty by association. Even this category includes those who advise children under fourteen along with those who push mentally challenged people to commit a crime. Those people are even included in this category who threats, coercion or compel others to commit a crime (Lippman,et,al,2016).
In simple words, it won’t be wrong to say that in the modern time these two categories are principal and the accessory. The principal is the main actor who actually commits the crime (who along with his accomplices is responsible for the crime) and on the other hand, is accessory are the one who helps for avoiding any constitutional proceeding after a crime is being committed. Those who play the role of accessories are those who despite knowing the fact that the defendants have committed a crime support them in escaping. Accessories in most of the cases seem to be more powerful than the principals as avoiding a law demands them (accessories) to be influential (du Bois-Pedain,et,al,2019).
Conclusion
So after taking a look at the above discussion and the research, it could be promulgated that crimes are mostly committed by more than one participating. Division of the parties to crime helps the authorities to decide which actor, involved in the commission of a crime should be punished with which degree depending upon their participation and contribution in the crime. Parties of crime that help in identifying, who played which part in the commission of the crime works best in the favor of constitution as well that makes sure justice for everyone.
References
du Bois-Pedain, A. (2019). Participation in Crime. University of Cambridge Faculty of Law Research Paper, (6).
Lippman, M. (2016). Essential Criminal Law. Sage Publications.
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