Criminal law
Part of the common law series
Elements of crimes
Actus reus  · Causation  · Concurrence
Mens rea  · Intention (general)
Intention in English law  · Recklessness
Willful blindness  · Criminal negligence
Ignorantia juris non excusat
Vicarious liability  · Corporate liability
Strict liability
Classes of crimes
Felony/Indictable  · Hybrid offence
Misdemeanor/Summary
Infraction
lesser included offenses
Crimes against the person
Assault  · Battery  · Robbery
Kidnapping  · Rape
Mayhem  · Manslaughter  · Murder
Crimes against property
Burglary  · Larceny  · Arson
Embezzlement  · False pretenses
Extortion  · Forgery  · Computer crime
Crimes against justice
Obstruction of justice  · Bribery
Perjury  · Misprision of felony
Inchoate offenses
Solicitation  · Attempt
Conspiracy  · Accessory
Subsets
Criminal procedure
Criminal defenses
Other areas of the common law
Contract law · Tort law  · Property law
Wills and trusts  · Evidence
Portals: Law  · Criminal justice

Kidnapper redirects here. For the song by American band Blondie, see Kidnapper (song).

Kidnapping, a word derived from kid = 'child' and nap(nab) = 'snatch', recorded since 1673, originally meant stealing children for use as servants or laborers in the American colonies. Image File history File links Scale_of_justice. ... Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of common 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). ... 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. ... In law, causation is the name given to the process of testing whether defendants should be fixed with liability for the outcome to their acts and omissions that injure or cause loss to others. ... Concurrence or Simultaneity is a legal term, from Western jurisprudence, referring to the simultaneous occurrence of actus reus (bad action) and mens rea (bad mind), which must be present for a crime to have occurred; except in crimes of strict liability. ... The mens rea is the Latin term for guilty mind used in the criminal law. ... In the criminal law, intention is one of the three general classes of mens rea necessary to constitute a conventional as opposed to strict liability crime. ... In English criminal law, intention is one of the types of mens rea (Latin for guilty mind) that, when accompanied by an actus reus (Latin for guilty act) constitutes a crime. ... In the criminal law, recklessness (sometimes also termed wilful blindness) is one of the three possible classes of mental state constituting mens rea (the Latin for guilty mind). To commit an offence of ordinary as opposed to strict liability, the prosecution must be able to prove both an actus reus... Willful blindess is a term used in law to describe a situation in which an individual seeks to avoid civil or criminal liability for a wrongful act by intentionally putting himself in a position where he will be unaware of facts which would render him liable. ... Criminal negligence, in the realm of criminal common law, is a legal term of art for a state of mind which is careless, inattentive, neglectful, willfully blind, or reckless; it is the mens rea part of a crime which, if occurring simultaneously with the actus reus, gives rise to criminal... Ignorantia juris non excusat or Ignorantia legis neminem excusat (Latin for ignorance of the law is no excuse) is a public policy holding that a person who is unaware of a law may not escape liability for violating that law merely because he or she was unaware of its content... The legal principle of vicarious liability applies to hold one person liable for the actions of another when engaged in some form of joint or collective activity. ... In the criminal law, corporate liability is an aspect of criminal vicarious liability and determines the extent to which a corporation as a fictitious person can be convicted of offences committed by the natural persons it employs. ... In criminal law, strict liability is liability where mens rea (Latin for guilty mind) does not have to be proved in relation to one or more elements comprising the actus reus (Latin for guilty act) although intention, recklessness or knowledge may be required in relation to other elements of the... A felony, in many common law legal systems, is the term for a very serious crime, whereas misdemeanors are considered to be less serious offenses. ... In many common law jurisdictions (e. ... 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 misdemeanors (or misdemeanour), in many common law legal systems, is a lesser criminal act. ... Infraction as a general term means a violation of a rule or local ordinance, regulation, promise, obligation, or contract. ... 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. ... 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. ... In the United States, larceny is a common law crime involving stealing. ... Arsonists redirects here. ... 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 this person, reputation, or property. ... Forgery is the process of making or adapting objects or documents (see false document), with the intention to deceive. ... Computer Crime, E-Crime, Hi-Tech Crime or Electronic Crime is committed when a computer is the target of a crime, or the means adopted to commit a crime. ... Modern 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, Irvine High School students, or other (usually government) officials. ... Bribery is a crime defined by Blacks Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions as an official or other person in discharge of a public or legal duty. ... Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. ... 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. ... In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more natural persons to break the law at some time in the future, so a natural person identified with the mind of a legal entity cannot conspire with the company alone. ... An accessory is a person who assists in or conceals a crime, but does not actually participate in the commission of the crime. ... Criminal procedure refers to the legal process for adjudicating claims that someone has violated the criminal law. ... 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 area of 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 common 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 (e. ... Kidnapper is track number 11 from the 1978 album Plastic Letters by Blondie. ...

Definition

It has come to mean any illegal capture or detention of persons against their will, regardless of age, as for ransom; since 1768 the term abduction was also used in this sense. Another case is when two countries are at war: enemy soldiers may be captured in another country and detained as prisoners of war under the law of the capturer's state, and suspected war criminals and those suspected of genocide or crimes against humanity may be arrested. The term ransom refers to the practice of holding a prisoner to extort money or property extorted to secure their release, or to the sum of money involved. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... A war crime is a punishable offense, under international (criminal) law, for violations of the law of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ... Genocide is defined by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) Article 2 as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: Killing members of the group; Causing... This article is in need of attention. ...

• Although the victims are usually called hostages, this term also applies to legal hostage-taking, commonly practiced by governments in the past.

A hostage is a person (sometimes another entity) which is held by a captor in order to compel another party to act or refrain from acting in a particular way. ...

Scope of application in the United States

In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or asportation of a person against the person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority. This is often done for ransom or in furtherance of another crime. A majority of jurisdictions in the United States retain the "asportation" element for kidnapping, where the victim must be confined in a bounded area against their will and moved. Any amount of movement will suffice for the requirement, even if it is moving the abductee to a house next door. In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, however, the asportation element has been abolished. Note that under early English common law, the asportation element required that the victim be moved outside the realm of England or overseas in order for an abduction to be considered "kidnapping." Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of common law that punishes criminals for committing offences against the state. ... In law, asportation is the carrying away or removing of property. ... False Imprisonment is a common law tort, and possibly a misdemeanor crime, wherein a person is intentionally confined without legal authority. ... 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). ...

Kidnapping for ransom is almost nonexistent in the United States today, due in great part to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's aggressive stance toward kidnapping. The Bureau made kidnap for ransom a special priority, and continues to do so today. It pursues kidnap cases ferociously, as FBI agents who have rescued kidnap victims have been known to describe the rescue as a personal high point of a career. That deterrent, plus the extreme logistical challenges involved in exchanging the money for the victim, the harsh prison sentences imposed, with some U.S. states imposing the death penalty for kidnapping, and the much better risk to benefit ratio of other crimes, has led kidnap for profit to virtually die out in the United States. Official FBI Seal The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the federal criminal investigative and intelligence agency, which is the principal investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... A state of the United States (a U.S. state) is any one of the fifty states (four of which officially favor the term commonwealth) which, along with the District of Columbia, form the United States of America. ... Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the State as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offenses. ...

In the past, and presently in some parts of the world, (such as southern Sudan) kidnapping was a common means used to obtain slaves. In more recent times, kidnapping in the form of shanghaiing men was used to supply American merchant ships in the 19th century with sailors, whom the law considered unfree labour. See also impressment. Slavery is a condition in which one person, known as a slave, is under the control of another person, group, organization, or state. ... To say a man had been shanghaied in the late 19th century, did not mean he had undertaken upon a journey to Shanghai in China, although he might be at sea for as long as a journey to that seaport might require. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... A sailor is a member of the crew of a ship or boat. ... Unfree labour is a generic or collective term for those work relations, especially in modern or early modern history, in which adults and/or children are employed against their will by the threat of destitution, detention, violence (including death), or other extreme hardship to themselves, or to members of their... Impressment (colloquially, press-ganging) is the act of conscripting people to serve as sailors. ...

Kidnapping can also take place in the case of deprogramming, a now rare practice to convince someone to give up his commitment to a new religious movement, called a cult or sect by critics, that the deprogrammer considers harmful. Deprogramming refers to actions to force a person to abandon allegiance to a religious group. ... A new religious movement or NRM is a religious, ethical, or spiritual grouping of fairly recent origin which is not part of an established religion and has not yet become recognised as a standard denomination, church, or religious body. ... In religion and sociology, a cult is a cohesive group of people (often a relatively small and recently founded religious movement) devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be far outside the mainstream. ...

It is also illegal kidnapping for the police officers or agents of one state to capture fugitives in another state and bring them back for trial. International law requires the permission of a country's government for a fugitive to be sent to another country for trial, unless the fugitive voluntarily surrenders. Most countries also have laws requiring extradition proceedings, and often extradition treaties. For example, the capture of Mordechai Vanunu in Italy by Mossad agents was kidnapping under Italian law. Similarly, the Mossad capture of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was kidnapping under Argentinian law. A fugitive is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. ... Extradition is a formal process by which a criminal suspect held by one government is handed over to another government for trial or, if the suspect has already been tried and found guilty, to serve his or her sentence. ... Extradition is a formal process by which a criminal suspect held by one government is handed over to another government for trial or, if the suspect has already been tried and found guilty, to serve his or her sentence. ... Mordechai Vanunu in the garden of St. ... Official seal of the Mossad (Hebrew: המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations) is an Israeli intelligence agency, often referred to as Mossad (in English: Institution). ... Official seal of the Mossad (Hebrew: המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations) is an Israeli intelligence agency, often referred to as Mossad (in English: Institution). ... National Socialism redirects here. ... A war crime is a punishable offense, under international (criminal) law, for violations of the law of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ... Adolf Eichmann, Germany 1940. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Stockholm syndrome is a term used to describe the relationship a hostage can build with their kidnapper. The four hostages in the Kreditbanken robbery sympathized with their captor (right) The Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in a hostage, in which the hostage exhibits seeming loyalty to the hostage-taker, in spite of the danger (or at least risk) in which the hostage has been... A hostage is a person (sometimes another entity) which is held by a captor (often a criminal abductor) in order to compel another party (relative, employer, government. ...

Kidnapping versus abduction

Wikisource has an original article from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica about:

Abduction

In the terminology of the common law in many jurisdictions (according to Black's Law Dictionary), the crime of kidnapping is labelled abduction when the victim is a woman. In modern usage, kidnapping or abduction of a child is often called child stealing, particularly when done not to collect a ransom, but rather with the intention of keeping the child permanently (often in a case where the child's parents are divorced or legally separated, whereupon the parent who does not have legal custody will commit the act; then also known as "childnapping"). The word "kidnapping" was originally "kid nabbing", in other words slang for "child stealing", but is no longer restricted to the case of a child victim. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikisource – The Free Library – is a Wikimedia project to build a free, wiki library of source texts, along with translations into any language and other supporting materials. ... Encyclopædia Britannica, the 11th edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... link title Blacks Law Dictionary, 7th edition Blacks Law Dictionary has traditionally been regarded as the definitive legal dictionary for the law of the United States. ... Child abduction is the abduction or kidnapping of a child (or baby) by an older person. ...

Child abduction / child stealing can refer to children being taken away without their parents' consent, but with the child's consent. In England and Wales it is child abduction to take away a child under the age of 16 without parental consent. Consent (as a term of jurisprudence) is a possible justification against civil or criminal liability. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages English Capital London Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population –mid-2004... For an explanation of often confusing terms such as Great Britain, Britain, United Kingdom, England and Wales and England, see British Isles (terminology). ...

Kidnapping in English law

This is a common law offense requiring: English law is a formal term of art that describes the law for the time being in force in England and Wales. ...

that one person takes and carries another away;

by force or fraud;

without the consent of the person taken; and

without lawful excuse.

It would be difficult to kidnap without also committing false imprisonment which is the common law offense of intentionally or recklessly detaining the victim. The use of force to take and detain will also be an assault and other related offences may also be committed before, during or after the detention. In physics, a force is anything that causes a free body with mass to accelerate. ... In jurisprudence, an excuse or justification is a form of immunity which must be distinguished from an exculpation. ... In the criminal law, intention is one of the three general classes of mens rea necessary to constitute a conventional as opposed to strict liability crime. ... In the criminal law, recklessness (sometimes also termed wilful blindness) is one of the three possible classes of mental state constituting mens rea (the Latin for guilty mind). To commit an offence of ordinary as opposed to strict liability, the prosecution must be able to prove both an actus reus...

Named forms

• Bride kidnapping is a term often applied more loosely, to include any bride physically 'abducted' against the will of her parents, even if she is willing to marry the 'abductor'. It still is traditional amongst certain nomadic peoples of Central Asia. It has seen a resurgence in Kyrgystan since the fall of the Soviet Union and the subsequent erosion of women's rights.
• Tiger kidnapping is taking an innocent hostage to make a beloved do something, e.g. a child is taken hostage to force the shopkeeper to open the safe; the term originates from the usually long preceding observation, like a tiger does on the prowl.

Bride kidnapping, also known as marriage by abduction or marriage by capture, is a form of forced marriage practiced in a few traditional cultures, in countries including Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, the Caucasus region, Ethiopia and Rwanda. ... Kazakh nomads in the steppes of the Russian Empire, ca. ... Map of Central Asia showing three sets of possible boundaries for the region Central Asia located as a region of the world Central Asia (Russian: Средняя Азия/Srednyaya Azia for Middle Asia or Центральная Азия/Tsentralnaya Azia for Central Asia; in Turkic languages Orta Asya; in Persian آسياى مرکزی; (Urdu: وسطى ايشيا)Wasti Asia; Standard Mandarin Chinese... Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyz: Кыргызстан) is a country in Central Asia. ... A hostage is a person (sometimes another entity) which is held by a captor (often a criminal abductor) in order to compel another party (relative, employer, government. ...

See also

• Child abduction
• Extraordinary rendition
• False imprisonment
• List of famous kidnappings
• National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Throwaway Children
• Terrorism
• Foreign hostages in Iraq

Child abduction is the abduction or kidnapping of a child (or baby) by an older person. ... Extraordinary rendition is an American extra-judicial procedure which involves the sending of untried criminal suspects, generally suspected terrorists or alleged supporters of groups which the US Government considers to be terrorist organizations, to countries other than the United States for imprisonment and interrogation [1]. According to Swiss councillor Dick... False Imprisonment is a common law tort, and possibly a misdemeanor crime, wherein a person is intentionally confined without legal authority. ... This is a list of kidnappings. ... NISMART or the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Throwaway Children, was a research project supported by the Department of Justice. ... Terrorism refers to a strategy of using violence, social threats, or coordinated attacks, in order to generate fear, cause disruption, and ultimately, bring about compliance with specified political, religious, or ideological demands. ... Beginning in April 2004, members of the Iraqi insurgency began taking hostage foreign civilians in Iraq. ...

External links

Look up Kidnapping in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Insight News documentary: China's Kidnapped Wives
• Court TV's - Criminal Psychology of child abduction

Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary is a Wikimedia Foundation project intended to be a free wiki dictionary (hence: Wiktionary) (including thesaurus and lexicon) in every language. ...

Sources and references

• Etymology on line
• Kyrgyz bride kidnap (current)
• [1]
• Sudanese slave trade (current): Slave by Mende Nazer and Damien Lewis ISBN 1586482122
• Save the Children