In the department of criminal law, any crime that has been inflicted on a person by another individual either by way of physical harm or by use of forceful means to a point of causing physical, emotional or psychological damage is generally referred as crime against humanity (May, 2005).
Crime against humanity is a wide topic that can be evaluated in numerous divisions depending with the nature of crime. Majorly, there are three chief divisions which any crime against humanity can be categorized, which include; fatal or mortal offence, sexual offences and non-fatal offences (May, 2005).
To be more specific, these three categories can also be subdivided further into cases of assaults which can be categorized depending on degree or intensity of the crime committed. As such, this research paper will discuss about the topic of crime against humanity by assessing three groups of offences that are commonly committed against other persons in the society, these three issues are; crimes of violence, murder and crimes against property (May, 2005).
Discussion
Crimes of murder against human
Murder is a notion that has been defined by the law as the concept of killing another person but usually varies in definition depending on how the situation has occurred. A murder case committed by deliberate means such as that which occurs during robbery is referred as first-degree murder while the murder case that happens in accidental way is referred as second-degree murder (May, 2005).
Cases of murder falls in the rule of felony murder which is well stipulated by the constitution of any given country and the penalty is administered depending on whether the case was committed in an accidental or in an intentional way whilst those cases that are committed in an accidental way is defined by the law as case of manslaughter whose penalty differ from that of murder which has been committed intentionally; thus the felony murder law is more pronounced since it is a means of discouraging serious murder cases.
Rules and policies under this category have undergone a lot of transformation and yet up to date, such laws are being developed in order to administer justice in the society for positive social change. However, in reality, the whole situation is not as simple as it may appear but it is very complicated.
For this reason, not all first class murder cases fall under rule of felony because there are some specific procedures that must be attained in such a way that, the case presented must prove detailed information between the murder case and felony (Mojolaw.com, 2007).
In a broad way, cases that fall in the rule of felony are those that equate to premeditated murder cases whose punishment is very severe; all victims of first degree murder are in most cases sentenced to life imprisonment as long as the defendant intended or challenged to kill.
However, murder is a notion that can be defined in terms of social background and it is a social action that does not involves only the act of killing and therefore, not all case of killing are defined as murder, as such, there are some cases such as instances of self defense which is not punishable by law since it is not considered as a murder case (Mojolaw.com, 2007).
Violence against humanity
Violence is a concept where excess force is applied; in a factual condition, it involves a situation in which one person applies force to the other person totally against his/her wishes (Mojolaw.com, 2007). In most cases, the force may be aimed at inflicting injuries, damage and causing death at extreme cases.
On the other hand, violence can also be described as political violence in instances where political force has been applied on a given population for political ambitions and so on (Hickey, 2003). Mostly, hostility is used as an instrument of manipulating the other party to do something which is not their wish and therefore in a generally way, violence is the use of physical force with an intention to harm, kill, abuse and destroy property among other vices (May, 2005).
Cases of violence have numerous basis which may include issues such as frustrations, the affinity to see other people’s actions as even when it is not the case, disappointments, increase of aggression brought about by drinking and verbal abuse among many other causes (Hickey, 2003).
There are many types of violence in the society; among the common instances includes; domestic violence, child abuse, sexual harassment, pornography and cases of sexual assault among others (Hickey, 2003). Domestic violence is a form of violence which is practiced to the other person in a relationship situation in order to acquire a form of control over the other partner (Hickey, 2003); this form of violence is very pronounced in the society especially between married couples.
Child abuse is a form of violence that involves taking advantage of the victims in diverse ways which is normally practiced against minors in the society (Hickey, 2003). In most cases, such cases of violence are characterized by physical, emotional, sexual and cases of neglecting the children because they are viewed as inferior beings.
Additionally, cases of sexual assault is also a common case of violence in the society, it is a concept that involves instances of sexual acts inflicted on a person without his/her approval and such cases also involves violence inflicted against a partner in a relationship mostly observed among couples.
Finally, sexual harassment is also another instance of violence that has been manifested in the society and it is commonly characterized by instances negative sexual remarks, undesirable bodily contact and signs that are intended to humiliate ones integrity (Hickey, 2003).
As we have already assessed, there are different form of violence against the humanity. For this reason, today’s laws have been urbanized to deal with such cases in very diverse ways depending on the type of violence and its intensity.
Some of the mentioned cases are more pronounced in the society than others and thus there is the necessity to develop tough sanctions against the culprit (May, 2005). Just to mention a few cases, it appears most violence cases are related to sexual context and hence most violence forms are inflicted upon the female gender due to their biological nature. As such, there are multiple laws that have been developed in the recent to curb and punish the offenders in the society (Riesenfeld, 2002).
In the year 1994, The Violence against Women Act was put in place (Riesenfeld, 2002). In fact, this act was regarded as “the greatest breakthrough in civil rights for women in nearly two decades” (Riesenfeld, 2002) since it advocated against violence practices against women in a broad way.
The act campaigned against cases of sexual assaults, domestic violence, child abuse and all cases of sexual harassment that are practiced against women in the society. Although this bill faced a lot of criticism, numerous amendments have been coined in order to enhance this particular bill to be more efficient in addressing issues of violence in our society today.
Crime against property
Crime against property is a common crime in the society today that involves offense such as theft, burglary, pick-pocketing, vehicle theft, shoplifting, minor robbery and vandalism among many other cases (Riesenfeld, 2002).
Also known as property crime, it involves taking away or stealing ones property but does not necessary involve use of threats or force (CCPCPS, 1995). Property crime is quite unique in that, the offender targets properties that are popular and very attractive such as jewelry, cameras, cell phones and other electronic gadgets that are valuable and can also acquire a ready market at any one time.
The topic of property crimes is such a wide subject but can also be looked at by analyzing the numerous types of property crime in a brief way for better understanding. One of the major types of property crime is burglary which ranges from burglary of home or residences, retailing centers, and burglary of other commercial facilities such as the banks and so on (CCPCPS, 1995).
Burglary is a usually phenomenon in the society and property worthy millions are stolen through this form of crime every now and then with the offenders having mastered the art by targeting those most vulnerable places such as unrestricted residences (Davenport, 2011).
The second and also a very common property crime practices is the issues of theft. Theft is also a common case in the society and has existed for long time. Among most common cases of theft cases involves stealing of cash from shops and banks, stealing of vehicles and motorbikes parts, stealing of clothing’s among many other categories of tools.
Shoplifting is also a common case in the society where people take property from the supermarkets and other retail shops without paying for the goods such as cigarettes, beverage drinks, pens, alcohol and attractive clothes among many others (Mojolaw.com, 2007).
The third category under this discussion includes cases of motor vehicle theft which is also very pronounced in the streets and is well known because such theft cases are also broadcasted by the mass media every day (Davenport, 2011).
Today, cases of motor vehicle theft are becoming increasingly due to the fact that, many people are acquiring vehicles at an increasing rate. Most of the stolen vehicles are usually resold in the black markets or even sold in form of spear parts which reduces chances of indentifying the stolen car (Davenport, 2011).
Due the fact that, such cases of motor vehicle theft have increased in the society, many people have adopted various ways to curb this negative behavior by installing tracking gadgets such as car alarms and ignitions locks which have helped in reducing such unacceptable behavior in the society today.
Finally, the other form of property crime is the case of arson or property torch. Arson is also a common practice in which some individual torch or even makes attempts to torch other people’s property with intentions of committing property damage among other mischief such as revenge and jealousy (Mojolaw.com, 2007).
Conclusion
All mentioned cases reflects lack of social order which is protected by the law at all times and to curb this, enough policies have been put in place in order to ensure that personal property is fully protected for a friendly environment at all times. In most countries such mischiefs are protected by the law and offenders are severely punished to curb this behavior for a better society.
References
CCPCPS (1995). Crimes against property. California: Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training.
Davenport, A. U. (2011). Basic Criminal Law: The Constitution Procedure and Crimes, 3rd Edn. Hong Kong: Pearson Education Limited.
Hickey, E. W. (2003). Encyclopedia of Murder and Violent Crime. New York: Sage.
May, L. (2005). Crimes against humanity: a normative account. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Riesenfeld, S. (2002). Crimes against Women under International Law. Berkeley Journal of International Law. Web.
Mojolaw.com (2007). Crime Against the Person. Retrieved from https://www.mojolaw.com/