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Encyclopedia > Criminal jurisdiction
Part of the common law series
Elements of all crimes
Mens rea  · Actus reus
Criminal jurisdiction
Categories of crimes
Felony/Indictable
Misdemeanor/Summary
Hybrid offence  · Lesser included offense
Criminal negligence
Regulatory offences
Crimes against the person
Assault  · Battery  · Robbery
Kidnapping  · Rape
Mayhem  · Manslaughter  · Murder
Crimes against property
Burglary  · Larceny  · Arson
Embezzlement  · False pretenses
Extortion  · Forgery
Crimes against justice
Bribery  · Perjury
Obstruction of justice
Misprision of felony
Inchoate offenses
Solicitation  · Attempt
Conspiracy  · Accessory
Defenses to crime
Self defense and defense of others
Necessity  · Duress
Insanity/mental disorder  · Automatism
Intoxication defense
Other areas of the common law
Contract law  · Tort law  · Property law
Wills and trusts  · Evidence
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Criminal jurisdiction is a term used in the law of criminal procedure to describe the power of a court to hear a case brought by the state accusing a criminal defendant of a violation of the law of the geographic area in which the court is located. Image File history File links Legal portal image File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of law that punishes criminals for committing offences against the state. ... This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ... Mens rea is a criminal law concept which focuses on the mental state of the accused and requires proof of a positive state of mind such as intent, recklessness, or willful blindness. ... Actus reus is the action (or inaction, in the case of criminal negligence and similar crimes which are sometimes called acts of omission) which, in combination with the mens rea (guilty mind), produces criminal liability in common law based criminal law jurisdictions such as the United States, United Kingdom. ... A felony, in many common law legal systems, is the term for a very serious crime; misdemeanors are considered to be less serious. ... In many common law jurisdictions (e. ... Misdemeanors (or misdemeanours) are lesser criminal acts which are generally punished less severely than felonies; but more so than infractions. ... A hybrid offence or dual offence are the special offences in Canadian criminal law where the prosecution may choose whether to proceed with a summary offence or an indictment. ... A lesser included offense, in criminal law, is a crime for which all of the elements necesary to impose liability are also elements found in a more serious crime. ... Manufacturers are reponsible for adequately warning consumers of possibly dangerous products. ... Regulatory offences are a class of crime in which the standard for proving culpability has been lowered so as not to require any fault elements. ... In many common law jurisdictions, the crime of battery involves an injury or other contact upon the person of another in a manner likely to cause bodily harm. ... Mayhem, under the common law of crimes, consisted of the intentional and wanton removal of a body part that would handicap a persons ability to defend themselves in combat. ... Larceny is a common law crime involving stealing. ... Arson is the crime of setting a fire with intent to cause damage. ... False pretenses is a common law crime. ... Extortion is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person obtains money, behaviour, or other goods and/or services from another by wrongfully threatening or inflicting harm to his person, reputation, or property. ... Forgery is the process of making or adapting objects or documents (see false document), with the intention to deceive. ... Bribery is the practice of offering a professional or an authority person money or other favours in order to circumvent ethics or other rules in a variety of situations. ... Perjury is lying or making verifiably false statements under oath in a court of law. ... Obstruction of justice, in a common law state, refers to the crime of offering interference of any sort to the work of police, investigators, regulatory agencies, prosecutors, or other (usually government) officials. ... Misprision of felony, under the common law of England, was the crime of failing to report knowledge of a felony to the appropriate authorities. ... An inchoate offense is a crime. ... Solicitation is a crime; it is an inchoate offense that consists of a person inciting, counseling, advising, urging, or commanding another to commit a crime with the specific intent that the person solicited commit the crime. ... The crime of attempt occurs when a person does an act amounting to more than mere preparation for a criminal offense, with specific intent to commit a crime, if that act tends but fails to effect the commission of the offense intended. ... Conspiracy, in common usage, is the act of working in secret to obtain some goal, usually understood with negative connotations. ... An accessory is a person who assists in or conceals a crime, but does not actually participate in the commission of the crime. ... Self defense and defense of others (sometimes called alter ego defense or defense of a third person) are a pair of legal theories under which otherwise tortious or illegal acts may be justified when committed for the purpose of protecting oneself, or for the purpose of protecting another person. ... Necessity (as a term of jurisprudence) is a possible justification for breaking the law. ... Duress (coercion) (as a term of jurisprudence) is a possible defense, via excuse, by which a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for actions which broke the law. ... In a criminal trial, the insanity defense are possible defenses by excuse, via which a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law, as they were mentally ill or mentally incompetent at the time of their allegedly criminal actions. ... In criminal law of commonwealth countries, the defence of mental disorder - sometimes called the defence of mental illness - is a legal defence by excuse, by which a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law, as they were at the time of their... Automatism is a disassociative state where the individual suffering from it has no control over their actions. ... An intoxication defense, in criminal law, is a defense by excuse, via which a defendant argues that they should not be held criminally liable for actions which broke the law, because they were intoxicated. ... A contract is any promise or set of promises made by one party to another for the breach of which the law provides a remedy. ... In the common law, a tort is a civil wrong for which the law provides a remedy. ... Property law is the law that governs the various forms of ownership in real property (land as distinct from personal or movable possessions) and in personal property, within the common law legal system. ... In the law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the testator) regulates the rights of others over his property or family after death. ... The law of trusts and estates is generally considered the body of law which governs the management of personal affairs and the disposition of property of an individual in anticipation and the event of such persons incapacity or death, also known as the law of successions in civil law. ... The law of evidence governs the use of testimony (eg. ... Critical legal studies Jurisprudence Law (principle) Legal research Letter versus Spirit List of legal abbreviations Legal code Pointless law Natural justice Natural law Philosophy of law Religious law External links Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Law Look up law in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Criminal procedure refers to the legal process for adjudicating claims that someone has violated the criminal law. ... A defendant is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute. ...


In the United States

In the United States, federal courts have jurisdiction to hear charges alleging federal crimes, and state courts have jurisdiction to hear charges alleging violations of state law. ...


U.S. federal courts

In order for a federal court to properly have jurisdiction, the crime being prosecuted must either have been created pursuant to an express or implied constitutional grant of authority, or must have been committed in an area owned by or under the exclusive control of the federal government.


Examples of crimes that are based on constitutional grants of authority include tax evasion (implied from the Article I grant of power in the Taxing and Spending Clause); possessing illegal substances (under the Commerce Clause), and conspiring to violate civil rights (under the Fourteenth Amendment). This article contrasts tax evasion, tax avoidance, tax resistance and tax mitigation. ... Article One of the United States Constitution establishes the legislative branch of government, Congress, which includes the House of Representatives and the Senate. ... Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution, known as the Commerce Clause, empowers the United States Congress To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... Amendment XIV (the Fourteenth Amendment) of the United States Constitution is one of the post-Civil War amendments and includes the due process and equal protection clauses (Section 1). ...


Examples of crimes that are based on areas owned by or under the exclusive control of the federal government include crimes committed in the District of Columbia, in U.S. Territories, in U.S. National Parks, in federal courthouses and federal prisons, and aboard airplanes (regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration) and ocean-going vessels. Federal courts can also assert jurisdiction to hear cases brought against U.S. citizens based on their illegal activities in other countries. ... The parks of the United States National Park system are one type of protected area in the United States and are operated by the U.S. National Park Service. ... This is a list of U.S. federal prisons. ... The Federal Aviation Administration is the entity of the United States government which regulates and oversees all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S. // Activities Along with the European Joint Aviation Authorities, the FAA is one of the two main agencies worldwide responsible for the certification of new aircraft. ...


U.S. State courts

The courts of the U.S. states only have jurisdiction over cases brought under the law of their own state. They have no authority to provide a forum for the prosecution of violations of U.S. federal laws, or the laws of another state.


Under the common law, a state could only assert jurisdiction over crimes that took place within that state. Many states have expanded their jurisdiction by statute, however, and state courts now have broad jurisdiction to hear cases asserting criminal wrongdoing in two situations: This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ...

  1. Where the defendant has committed some part of the crime in that state (even merely planning the crime or legally purchasing implements necessary for its commission; or
  2. The injury must have occurred in that state.

The classic example is of a person standing in state X, shooting a person who is standing in state Y. Both states will have jurisdiction to try that person for the crime against their own law. However, a state's courts have no such authority where no component of the crime was committed within that state. If persons A and B are both residents of state X, and A commits a crime against B in state Y, with no criminal act or injury occurring in state X, the courts of state X will not be able to hear the case. This is significantly different from civil law cases, in which a court always has the authority to hear a case against a resident of its state. Civil law has at least three meanings. ...


  Results from FactBites:
 
Habeas corpus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (3091 words)
In the USA, the writ of habeas corpus ad subjiciendum is a civil (as opposed to a criminal) proceeding in which the court inquires as to the legitimacy of a prisoner's custody.
Congress granted all federal courts jurisdiction under Title 28, Section 2241 of the United States Code to issue writs of habeas corpus to release prisoners held by any government entity (state or federal) from custody, but only when held in violation of the Constitution.
"[N]o court, justice, or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed by or on behalf of an alien detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba." §1005(e)(1), 119 Stat.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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