 A young waif steals a pair of boots "Stealing" redirects here. For other uses, see Steal. In the criminal law, theft (also known as stealing) is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's freely-given consent. As a term, it is used as shorthand for all major crimes against property, encompassing offences such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, mugging, trespassing, shoplifting, intrusion, fraud (theft by deception) and sometimes criminal conversion. In some jurisdictions, theft is considered to be synonymous with larceny; in others, theft has replaced larceny. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 398 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (512 × 771 pixel, file size: 72 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ...
Image File history File links Size of this preview: 398 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (512 × 771 pixel, file size: 72 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ...
Waif is used to described a very thin (almost unhealthy thin) looking person, usually a woman. ...
The term steal can mean either: Look up steal in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Wiktionary has related dictionary definitions, such as: thief, thieves A thief is a person who commits theft. ...
The term criminal law, sometimes called penal law, refers to any of various bodies of rules in different jurisdictions whose common characteristic is the potential for unique and often severe impositions as punishment for failure to comply. ...
This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...
Consent (as a term of jurisprudence) is a possible justification against civil or criminal liability. ...
In the United States, larceny is a common law crime involving stealing. ...
Looting (which derives via the Hindi lut from Sanskrit lung, to rob), sacking, plundering, or pillaging is the indiscriminate taking of goods by force as part of a military or political victory, or during a catastrophe or riot, such as during war,[1] natural disaster,[2] or rioting. ...
Look up mugging in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
In law, trespass can be: the criminal act of going into somebody else’s land or property without permission; it is also a civil law tort that may be a valid cause of action to seek judicial relief and possibly damages through a lawsuit. ...
For the band Shoplifting see Shoplifting (band). ...
An intruder may refer to: An American military aircraft the Grumman A-6 Intruder A person or animal that enters territory that does not belong to them. ...
Criminal conversion, in criminal law, is usually defined as the crime of exerting unauthorised use or control of someone elses property. ...
Synonyms (in ancient Greek, συν (syn) = plus and όνομα (onoma) = name) are different words with similar or identical meanings. ...
In the United States, larceny is a common law crime involving stealing. ...
Someone who carries out an act of or makes a career of theft is known as a "thief".
Elements
 Bicycles can occasionally be stolen, even when locked up and protected by ghosts. This however is a unicycle. The actus reus of theft is usually defined as an unauthorised taking, keeping or using of another's property which must be accompanied by a mens rea of dishonesty and/or the intent to permanently deprive the owner or the person with rightful possession of that property or its use. Image File history File links Scale_of_justice. ...
The term criminal law, sometimes called penal law, refers to any of various bodies of rules in different jurisdictions whose common characteristic is the potential for unique and often severe impositions as punishment for failure to comply. ...
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). ...
The actus reus — sometimes called the external element of a crime — is the Latin term for the guilty act which, when proved beyond a reasonable doubt in combination with the mens rea, i. ...
Causation is the bringing about of a result, and in law it is an element in various tests for legal liability. ...
For other uses, see concurrency. ...
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 the criminal law, recklessness (sometimes also termed willful blindness which may have a different meaning in the United States) 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...
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 does not 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...
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...
In the criminal law, corporate liability determines the extent to which a corporation as a fictitious person can be liable for the acts and omissions of the natural persons it employs. ...
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 criminal law, an offence against the person usually refers to a crime which is committed by direct physical harm or force being applied to another person. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
Sex crimes are forms of human sexual behavior that are crimes. ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
Property damage is damage or destruction done to public or private property, caused either by a person who is not its owner or by natural phenomena. ...
The Skyline Parkway Motel in Afton, Virginia after an arson fire on July 9, 2004. ...
In English law, the main deception offences are defined in the Theft Act 1968 (TA68), the Theft Act 1978 and the Theft (Amendment) Act 1996. ...
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, or other (usually government) officials. ...
Bribery is a crime implying a sum or gift given alters the behaviour of the person in ways not consistent with the duties of that person. ...
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. ...
Malfeasance in office, or official misconduct, is the commission of an unlawful act, done in an official capacity, which affects the performance of official duties. ...
An inchoate offence is the crime of preparing for or seeking to commit another 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 natural persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement. ...
An accessory is a person who assists in or conceals a crime, but does not actually participate in the commission of the crime. ...
Automatism is a disassociative state where the individual suffering from it has no control over their actions. ...
...
Mistake of law and mistake of fact are two types of defense by excuse, via which a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law or liable for damages under a civil law action. ...
In criminal trials, the insanity defenses are possible defenses by excuse, by which defendants argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law, as they were legally insane at the time of the commission of alleged crimes. ...
In criminal law, diminished responsibility (or diminished capacity) is a potential defense by excuse by which defendants argue that although they broke the law, they should not be held criminally liable for doing so, as their mental functions were diminished or impaired. ...
For English law on the criminal defence, see duress in English law. ...
This article is about the law definition of necessity. ...
For the country-specific law, see provocation in English law. ...
This article and defense of property deal with the legal concept of excused (sometimes termed justified) acts that might otherwise be illegal. ...
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. ...
This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...
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. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2560x1920, 769 KB) Work by Rama File links The following pages link to this file: Theft ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2560x1920, 769 KB) Work by Rama File links The following pages link to this file: Theft ...
The actus reus — sometimes called the external element of a crime — is the Latin term for the guilty act which, when proved beyond a reasonable doubt in combination with the mens rea, i. ...
The mens rea is the Latin term for guilty mind used in the criminal law. ...
Dishonesty is a term which in common usage may be defined as the act of being dishonest; to act without honesty; a lack of probity, to cheat, lying or being deliberately deceptive; lacking in integrity; to be knavish, perfidious, corrupt or treacherous; charlatanism or quackery. ...
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. ...
For example, if X goes to a restaurant and, by mistake, takes Y's scarf instead of her own, she has physically deprived Y of the use of the property (which is the actus reus) but the mistake prevents X from forming the mens rea (i.e. because she believes that she is the owner, she is not dishonest and does not intend to deprive the "owner" of it) so no crime has been committed at this point. But if she realises the mistake when she gets home and could return the scarf to Y, she will steal the scarf if she dishonestly keeps it. Note that there may be civil liability for the torts of trespass to chattels or conversion in either eventuality. Mistake of fact is an affirmative defense to a crime where the mistake negates the culpable mental state. ...
Not to be confused with torte, an iced cake. ...
Trespass to chattels is a tort whereby the infringing party has intentionally (or in Australia negligently) interfered with another persons lawful possession of a chattel. ...
In law, conversion is an intentional tort to personal property (same as chattel), where defendants unjustified willful interference with the chattel deprives plaintiff of possession of such chattel. ...
By region
Theft in English law In English law, theft was codified into a statutory offence in the Theft Act 1968 which defines it as: English law is a formal term of art that describes the law for the time being in force in England and Wales. ...
The Theft Act 1968 (1968 c. ...
- "A person is guilty of theft, if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it". (Section 1)
The five elements of the offence are defined sequentially in the Act: - Section 2 dishonesty;
- Section 3 "appropriation" which occurs when the defendant wrongfully asserts the rights of ownership over the property. This can be by physical taking, but it will also include many different situations (i.e. a failure to return or omission) in which a person may have lawfully come into possession of the property and then keeps or uses the property in an unauthorised way;
- Section 4 "property" includes all personalty, i.e. land itself cannot be stolen but anything severed from the land (with the exception of wild flowers) can be stolen, as can intangible property such as a chose in action; however it seems that the term does not extend to all intangible property, as information (Oxford v. Moss) and trade secrets (R v. Absolom, The Times, 14th September 1983) have been held not to fall within the Section 4 definition of property.
- Section 5 "belonging to another" requires a distinction to be made between ownership, possession and control:
-
- ownership is where a person is not legally accountable to anyone else for the use of the property:
- possession is where a person is only because it had been physically removed but there were two issues to be decided:
- did the car "belong to another"? The garage had a lien i.e. a "proprietary right or interest" in the car as security for the unpaid bill and this gave the garage a better right than the owner to possess the car at the relevant time.
- what was the relevance of Turner's belief that he could not steal his own property? The defence of mistake of law) only applies if the defendant honestly believes that he has a right in law to act in the given way. Generalised and non-specific beliefs about what the law might permit are not a defence.
- Section 6 "with the intent to permanently deprive the other of it" is sufficiently flexible to include situations where the property is later returned. For example, suppose that B, a keen football fan, has bought a ticket for the next home match. T takes the ticket, watches the match and then returns the ticket to B. In this instance, all that T returns is a piece of paper. Its value as a licence to enter the stadium on a particular day has been permanently lost. Hence, T steals the ticket. Similarly, if T takes a valuable antique but later repents and returns the goods, T has committed the actus reus with the mens rea. The fact that T's conscience forces a change of mind is relevant only for sentencing.
The maximum sentence in the Crown Court is seven years (section 7). Dishonesty is a term which in common usage may be defined as the act of being dishonest; to act without honesty; a lack of probity, to cheat, lying or being deliberately deceptive; lacking in integrity; to be knavish, perfidious, corrupt or treacherous; charlatanism or quackery. ...
In the criminal law, an omission or failure to act will constitute an actus reus (Latin for guilty act) and give rise to liability only when the law imposes a duty to act and the defendant is in breach of that duty. ...
Chose (French for thing), a term used in English law inghjgjgjgg202. ...
Oxford v. ...
In law, lien is the broadest term for any sort of charge or encumbrance against an item of property that secures the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. ...
This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...
The actus reus — sometimes called the external element of a crime — is the Latin term for the guilty act which, when proved beyond a reasonable doubt in combination with the mens rea, i. ...
The mens rea is the Latin term for guilty mind used in the criminal law. ...
In law, a sentence forms the final act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. ...
Crown Court and County Court in Oxford. ...
If the act of stealing is already complete before another comes into possession of the goods, this may be handling. For alternative charges involving deceptions, see the deception offences and the Theft Act 1978 which may overlap with s1 Theft. For the theft of motor vehicles with or without violence, see robbery, blackmail and TWOC. For the turning characteristics of land vehicles, see Car handling. ...
For the purposes of English law, deception is defined in s15(4) Theft Act 1968 and applies to the deception offences in the Theft Act 1968, and to the Theft Act 1978 and the Theft (Amendment) Act 1996. ...
In English law, the main deception offences are defined in the Theft Act 1968 (TA68), the Theft Act 1978 and the Theft (Amendment) Act 1996. ...
The Theft Act 1978 supplemented the earlier deception offences in English law contained in sections 15 and 16 of the Theft Act 1968 by reforming some aspects of those offences and adding new provisions. ...
For other uses, see Blackmail (disambiguation). ...
TWOC is an acronym standing for Taken Without Owners Consent. ...
Victoria - Australia North and south Theft is defined at s.72 of the Crimes Act 1958. The actus reus and mens rea are defined as follows:
Actus reus Appropriation - defined at s.73(4) of the Crimes Act 1958 as the assumption of any of the owners rights. It does not have be all the owner's rights, as long as at least one right has been assumed(Stein v Henshall). If the owner gave their consent to the appropriation there cannot be an appropriation(Baruday v R). However, if this consent is obtained by deception, this consent is vitiated.
Property - defined at s.71(1) of the Crimes Act 1958 as being both tangible property, including money and intangible property. Information has been held not be property(Oxford v Moss).
Belonging to another - s.73(5) that property belongs to another if that person has ownership, possession, or a proprietary interest in the property. Property can belong to more than one person. s.73(9) & s.73(10) deal with situations where the accused receives property under an obligation or by mistake.
Mens rea Intention to permanently deprive - defined at s.73(12) as treating property as it belongs to the accused, rather than the owner.
Dishonestly - s.73(2) creates a negative definition of the term 'dishonestly'. The section deems only three circumstances when the accused is deemed to have been acting honestly. These are a belief in a legal claim of right (s.73(2)(a)), a belief that the owner would have consented (s.73(2)(b)), or a belief the owner could not be found(s.73(2)(c))
United States In the U.S., plenary regulation of theft exists only at the state level, in the sense that most thefts by default will be prosecuted by the state in which they occurred. The federal government has criminalized certain narrow categories of theft which directly affect federal agencies or interstate commerce. Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution empowers the United States Congress To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes. The Commerce Clause has been the subject of intense constitutional and political disagreement centering on the extent to...
Although many U.S. states have retained larceny as the primary offence, some have now adopted theft provisions. Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas US Government Portal A U.S. state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of...
In the United States, larceny is a common law crime involving stealing. ...
For example, California consolidated a variety of common law crimes into theft in 1927, and now distinguishes between two types of theft, grand theft and petty theft.[1] Grand theft generally consists of the theft of something of value over $400 (it can be money, labor or property),[2] while petty theft is the default category for all other thefts.[3] Grand theft is punishable by up to a year in jail or prison, and can either be seen as a misdemeanor or felony.[4] while petty theft is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine or six months in jail.[5] As for the older crimes of larceny, embezzling, and stealing, any references to them now mean theft instead.[6] This article is about the U.S. state. ...
In many states, grand theft of a vehicle is charged as "grand theft auto" (see motor vehicle theft for more information). This charge became the title of a popular series of video games about stealing cars even though this crime is not what the main plot of the game revolves around (see Grand Theft Auto (series)). Motor vehicle theft is a crime of theft. ...
Grand Theft Auto (GTA) is a video game series created and primarily developed by Scottish developer Rockstar North (formerly DMA Design), published by Rockstar Games and debuted in 1998. ...
Repeat offenders who continue to steal may become subject to life imprisonment in certain states. [7] Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime, nominally for the entire remaining life of the prisoner, but in fact for a period which varies between jurisdictions: many countries have a maximum possible period of time (usually 50 years) a prisoner may be incarcerated, or require the...
Canada Theft is dealt with by Part 9 of the Criminal Code of Canada which is the part that covers property crime. Section 322 in Part 9 creates a general definition of theft, while other sections such as section 326 (which deals with the theft of gas, electricity and telecommunication services) define special kinds of theft. According to the general definition in section 322 a person steals a thing if he or she takes or converts it fraudulently, without colour of right and with intent to deprive the owner of it, either permanently or temporarily. For the purposes of punishment theft is divided into two separate offences by section 334 depending on the value and nature of the goods stolen. If the thing stolen is worth more than $5000 or is a testamentary instrument the offence is commonly referred to as Theft Over $5000 and is an indictable offence with a maximum punishment of 10 years imprisonment. Where the stolen item is not a testamentary instrument and is not worth more than $5000 it is known as Theft Under $5000 and is a hybrid offence, meaning that it can be treated either as an indictable offence or a less serious summary conviction offence, depending on the choice of the prosecutor. If dealt with as an indictable offence Theft Under $5000 is punishable by imprisonment for not more than 2 years and, if treated as a summary conviction offence, 6 months imprisonment, a fine of $2000 or both. The Canadian Criminal Code (formal title An Act respecting the Criminal Law) is the codification of most of the criminal offenses and procedure in Canada. ...
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. ...
In the law of many common law jurisdictions, a summary offence (or summary offense) is an offence which can be tried without an indictment. ...
Romania By the Romanian Penal Code for theft (furt) a person can face a penalty ranging from 1 to 20 years.
Degrees of theft:
A: Theft (1 to 12 years)
When a person steals a thing, or uses a vehicle without permission and no aggravating circumstances applies.
B: Qualified theft (basically 3 to 15 years but there can be special cases when penalty range is from 4 to 18 years and even 10 to 20 years)
- Aggravating circumstances - 3 to 15 years: a) by two or more persons together b) by a person who detains a gun or a narcotic substance c) by a masked or disguised person d) against a person who is in impossibility of self defence e) in a public place f) in a public transportation vehicle g) during the night h) during a natural disaster i) by effraction, or by using an original or copyed key j) things belongs to the cultural patrimonium k) stealing official identity papers with intention to make use of them l) stealing official identity badges with intention to make use of them
- Aggravating circumstances - 4 to 18 years : a) stealing petrol based products directly from transportation pipes and vehicles or deposits b) stealing components from national electrification, telecommunication, irrigation networks or from any type of navigational system c) stealing a public alertation device d) stealing a public intervention vehicle or device e) when periclitating the safety of public transportation.
- Aggravating circumstances - 10 to 20 years : When the consequences are extremely grave and affects some public institutions or the material prejudice is over 2.000.000.000 ROL.
Click here for Romanian leu, or click here for The Republic of the Landland Islands. ...
External links
Notes - ^ California Penal Code Section 486. For the entire portion of the Penal Code covering theft, see Sections 484 through 502.9 at Findlaw.
- ^ California Penal Code Section 487.
- ^ California Penal Code Section 488.
- ^ California Penal Code Section 489,
- ^ California Penal Code Section 490.
- ^ California Penal Code Section 490a.
- ^ See Rummel v. Estelle, 445 U.S. 263 (1980) (upholding life sentence for fraudulent use of a credit card to obtain $80 worth of goods or services, passing a forged check in the amount of $28.36, and obtaining $120.75 by false pretenses) and Lockyer v. Andrade, 538 U.S. 63 (2003) (upholding sentence of 50 years to life for stealing videotapes on two separate occasions).
See also Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Wiktionary (a portmanteau of wiki and dictionary) is a multilingual, Web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in over 151 languages. ...
An anti-theft system is a system used to keep theft under check by the use of some alarm or lock, or taking some preventive measure at that very instances. ...
Art theft is the stealing of high-profile art. ...
Bandwidth theft is a label that some apply to the use of bandwidth in potentially unintended ways. ...
Data theft is a growing problem primarily perpetrated by office workers with access to technology such as desktop computers and hand-held devices, since employees often spend a considerable amount of time developing contacts and confidential and copyrighted information for the company they work for they often feel they have...
Dishonesty is a term which in common usage may be defined as the act of being dishonest; to act without honesty; a lack of probity, to cheat, lying or being deliberately deceptive; lacking in integrity; to be knavish, perfidious, corrupt or treacherous; charlatanism or quackery. ...
Force-initiation is the start, or beginning, of the use of physical and/or legal coercion, violence, or restraint. ...
In the United States, larceny is a common law crime involving stealing. ...
Motor vehicle theft is a crime of theft. ...
Theft of services is the legal term for a crime which is committed when a person obtains services — as opposed to goods — without lawfully compensating the provider of said services. ...
A sticker on the back of this Illinois street sign is intended to deter theft. ...
Laptop theft is a serious threat to users of mobile computers. ...
Asset management is the method that a company uses to track fixed assets, for example factory equipment, desks and chairs, computers, even buildings. ...
References - Allen,Michael. Textbook on Criminal Law. Oxford University Press, Oxford. (2005) ISBN 0-19-927918-7.
- Criminal Law Revision Committee. 8th Report. Theft and Related Offences. Cmnd. 2977
- Griew, Edward. Theft Acts 1968 & 1978, Sweet & Maxwell. ISBN 0-421-19960-1
- Ormerod, David. Smith and Hogan Criminal Law, LexisNexis, London. (2005) ISBN 0-406-97730-5
- Maniscalco, Fabio, Theft of Art (in Italian), Naples - Massa (2000) ISBN 88-87835-00-4
- Smith, J. C. Law of Theft, LexisNexis: London. (1997) ISBN 0-406-89545-7.
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