Commonly Used Terms | Legal Reasoning for CLAT PDF Download

Law relating to criminal conduct is known as Criminal Law. This includes laws that define crimes, defenses against crimes, and how law enforcement, courts, and attorneys conduct themselves during a criminal investigation.

Here is list of commonly-used legal terms in criminal law and their definitions. These terms are important and have been asked in legal knowledge. 

Accused

• A person or persons formally charged or implicated in wrongdoing but not yet convicted of a crime.

Admission 

• Confession of a charge, an error, or a crime. A statement concerning a crime which may be made by any party. Where A says that B committed a crime, it is an admission.

Approver 

• One who testified on behalf of the prosecution in return for a reduced sentence. e.g. X makes a statement that both X and Y committed a crime. In return X gets some sort of relief.

Acquittal Order

• It is a judicial decision, resulting due to no complaint or withdrawal of a complaint. The person once acquitted cannot be arrested again on the basis of retrials on the same fact and for the same offence.

Abduction

• Whoever by force compels, or by any deceitful means induces, any person to go from any place, is said to abduct that person.

Arrest

• A person may be arrested for committing an alleged offence. The right to liberty, as envisaged by the constitution, is safeguarded by various procedures to be followed by the Police.

Arrest Warrant

• A written order of court commanding law enforcement officers to arrest a person and bring him before a magistrate for processing.

Anticipatory Bail

• Anticipatory bail is a direction to release a person on bail, issued even before the person is arrested. 
• When any person apprehends that there is a move to get him arrested on false charges, or due to enmity with someone, or he fears that a false case is likely to be built up against him, he has the right to move the court of Session or the High Court for grant of bail in the event of his arrest, and the court may if it thinks fit, direct that in the event of such arrest, he shall be released on bail.

Bail/Bond: 

• Money or property required by the court for the release of a prisoner who must appear in court at a future time.

Bail and Cancellation of Bail

• It is the procurement of release from prison of a person who is charged with an offence, awaiting trial or an appeal, by the Deposit of security to insure his submission at the required time to legal authority. 
• The monitory value of the security known as bail or bail bond is set by the court having jurisdiction over the prisoner. 
• The Criminal Procedure Code does not define bail, but the offence is defined in it as either bailable or non-bailable office. 
• A bailable offence is an offence that is shown as bailable in the First Schedule or which is made bailable by any other law for the time being enforced, and a non-bailable offence means any other offence. 
• Cancellation of bail can be ordered even before the person in question actually was released on bail. But bail once granted is not cancelled without sufficient reason.

Bench Trial: 

• A trial in which the judge hears the case without a jury and decides whether the accused is guilty.

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt:

•  

  The degree of proof needed for a judge or jury to convict a person accused of a crime.

Convict

• A person having been found guilty of the charges and being convicted by a court of law.

Confession 

• A statement made by the accused that she herself/himself committed a crime; e.g. X says that X committed the crime.

Charge

• It is a clear and precise notice describing the nature of the accusation, allegation of facts constituting the offence, for which the accused is called upon to meet in the course of the trial.

Complaint

• Any oral or written allegation (generally made to the Magistrate) with a view to his taking action under the Code that somebody has committed the offence. 

Custody 

• In India, there are two kinds of as custody, police custody and judicial custody. In police custody, you are a responsibility of the police and in judicial custody you are in the custody of the judge. Sending a person to jail means judicial custody. 

Crime:

• An act of commission, or omission, against the law, tending to prejudice of the community, for which punishment may be inflected as the result of judicial proceedings taken in the name of the State.

Criminal Justice System:

•  The network of institutions through which an accused offender passes until he is acquitted or convicted, his charges dismissed, or his punishment ended. The system typically includes three components: law enforcement, the judicial process, and corrections. 

Criminal Trial: 

• A judicial proceeding, before a jury or judge, to determine if a person charged with a crime actually committed that crime.

Discharge Order

• It means no prima facie evidence against the accused to suggest further inquiry for the charge, but a fresh trial due to new facts or evidence can affect the re-arrest of the accused. 
• However, the discharge order does not establish anything towards the guilt of the accused.

Defendant: 

• A person who is arrested and charged with a crime.

Dismissal: 

• A judge’s decision to end the case, without convicting or acquitting the defendant.

Disposition:

• The manner in which a case is settled or resolved.  

Dowry Death

• Where the death of a woman is caused by any bums or bodily injury or occurs otherwise than under normal circumstances within seven years of her marriage and it is shown that soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or any other relative of the husband, then such death shall be called " dowry death&quot. 
• Whoever commits dowry death shall be punished with imprisonment which shall not be less than seven years but which may extend to life imprisonment.
  

Death by Negligence

• Whoever causes the death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, shall be liable for causing death by negligence and shall be punished.

Evidence

• The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 specifies provisions related to adducing evidence in any legal proceedings, including in criminal trials. 
• The provisions in the Act strive to maintain a balance between certain requirements of investigating authorities for establishing the case, as well as the rights of the accused persons. 
• One such set of provisions addresses all admission and confession related issues, i.e. Sections 17-31. Of these, Sections 17-23 deal with admissions, which are statements that suggest an inference as to a fact in issue or a relevant fact made by any of the persons. On the other hand, a confession is a specific admission, i.e. an admission of guilt.
• It is a well-known fact that the police sometimes employ violent methods in order to extract a confession (admission of guilt) from an accused person. 
• While there have been many efforts at regulating such behaviour, it is impossible to guarantee in any given case that the confession of the accused has not been extracted by extra-legal methods. In order to rule out such a possibility, and in order to ensure that basic rights of accused persons are also protected, the legislature has enacted certain provisions related to confession.

Enforce: 

• To compel or force obedience to a law, rule, or order. 

Evidence: 

• Testimony, documents, and objects used to prove a fact in a case. 

Ex-Parte:

• Done for, or at the request of, one side in a case only, usually without prior notice to the other side. 

Execution Suspended: 

• A prison sentence that is suspended in whole or in part provided certain conditions of probation or conditional discharge are met by the defendant.

Furlough 

• Unlike parole, furlough is a matter of right, which enables the prisoner to leave the prison to renew and keep touch with his social ties. It is a 'leave' from prison. In India, a proq prisoner can apply for 14 days of furlough in a year.

First Information Report (FIR)

• FIR is recorded at the time it is made and is one of the modes in hands of the aggrieved person to put criminal law in motion. 
• All information relating to the offence is logged in the register by the officer and be read over to the informant and signed by the informant. 
• FIR may not contain all details pertaining to the case but is the first information of an incidence or operation in the point of time, which reaches the competent authority to investigate the case. 
• A complaint may become a First Information Report, but a First Information Report cannot become a complaint. It has considerable value in trials.

Guilty

• A verdict of a judge or jury that a person accused of committing a crime did commit it.

Hurt

• The offence of hurt has been defined by section 319 of the Indian Penal Code. According to section 319 of IPC, whoever causes bodily pain, disease or infirmity to any person is said to cause hurt. 
• The definition of hurt contemplates causing pain by one person to another so it is not necessary that there should be visible injury caused on the person. 
• The causing of pain is sufficient. Causing disease and infirmity also come within the purview of this section.

Habeas Corpus: 

• A court order used to bring a defendant physically before a court in order to ensure the person’s detention or imprisonment is not illegal. 

Hearing: 

• A judicial proceeding where a judge may hear argument and evidence so as to decide issues of law or of fact. 

Investigation

• It includes proceedings under the Code for the collection of evidence and can never be judicial.

Inquiry

• It includes every inquiry made by the court and relates to all the proceedings held by the Court. It may be judicial or non-judicial and may include asking questions and studying the evidence.

Judge: 

• A person who hears and decides cases for the courts. 

Jury: 

• A panel of citizens who are selected by the prosecution, defense, and judge and given power to decide questions of fact and power to decide a defendant’s guilt.

Kidnapping

• Whoever takes or entices any minor under [sixteen years of age if a male, or under [eighteen] years of age if a female, or any person of unsound mind, out of the keeping of the lawful guardian of such minor or person of unsound mind, without the consent of such guardian, is said to kidnap such minor or person from lawful guardianship.
• Explanation: The words "lawful guardian" in this section include any person lawfully entrusted with the care or custody of such minor or other person.

Modification: 

Request to change a prior court order. Usually requires a change in circumstances from when the prior order was issued. 

Motion: 

An oral or written application made by the prosecution or defense before, during, or after a trial requesting the court issue a ruling or an order.

Not Guilty: 

• A verdict issued by a judge or jury stating that the prosecution has not proved the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 

Notice: 

• The provision of information, usually in oral or written form, to an identified party regarding their rights or interest.

Offence

• It means any action or inaction made punishable by the law during its validity and includes any act in respect of which a complaint may be made. The cognizable offence is an offence for which the arrest can be made without a warrant. 
• As per First Schedule, the minimum punishment for cognizable office is imprisonment for 3 years or more. 
• For a non-cognizable offence, police officers cannot take cognizance without permission or order from the magistrate.

Non-Cognizable Offence

• Compoundable Offence: These are private offences and law allows compromise, and it may result in acquittal of the accused.
• Non-Compoundable Offence: These are public offences, do not allow compromise and are tried according to the law.

Parole 

• A bail is for an accused, whereas a parole applies to a convict. A convict is given parole or permission to live outside prison on account of good behaviour. A parole is a discretionary power given to the prison authorities.

Prosecution 

• The side trying to prove the charges against the accused. In India, the prosecution is the state as crimes are committed against the state.

Prosecutor: 

• Also called the state’s attorney. Represents the state in all criminal cases. 

Summon

• A summon is a court order to an individual to appear in court at a specified time and place. A summon may be issued in both criminal and civil cases. Every summon shall be served by a police officer, or by an officer of the court issuing it or any other public servant. 
• The summon shall if practical, be served personally on the person summoned, by delivering or tendering to him one of the duplicates of the summons. Every person on whom a summon is served shall sign a receipt on the back of the other duplicate.

Trial

• It is the conclusion of an inquiry or investigation. It is of judicial nature and results in either conviction or acquittal.

Important Terms and Sections Explained

Some of the Important terms and sections are explained in detail so that you don't miss them in any case: 

1. Adultery

A person commits adultery if he:

• Has sexual intercourse with a woman who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man.
• Without the consent or connivance of the husband.
• It does not amount to rape.

Note: The inconsistencies of the man are punishable, but not the inconsistencies of the wife. The wife is not punishable as an abettor. It is not committed by a married man who has sexual intercourse with an unmarried woman, or with a widow, or even with a married woman whose husband consents to it.
Whoever commits adultery shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. The wife, as an abettor shall not be punishable.

2. Arrest without Warrant

Any police officer may without an order from a magistrate and without a warrant, arrest any person:

• Who has been concerned in any cognizable offence like murder, causing hurt, kidnapping etc., or against whom a reasonable complaint has been made, or credible information has been received, or a reasonable suspicion exists, of his having been so concerned.
• Who has in his possession without lawful excuse, the burden of proving which excuse shall lie on such person, any implement of house-breaking.
• Who has been proclaimed as an offender either under this Code or by order of the State Government; or Who is in whose possession anything is found which may reasonably be suspected to be stolen property and who may reasonably be suspected of having committed an offence with reference to such thing.
• Who obstructs a police officer while in the execution of his duty, or who has escaped, or attempts to escape, from lawful custody.
• Who is reasonably suspected of being a deserter from any of the Armed Forces of the Union.
• Who has been concerned in, or against whom a reasonable complaint has been made, or credible information has been received, or a reasonable suspicion exists, of his having been concerned in, any act committed at any place out of India which if committed in India, would have been punishable as an offence, and for which he is, under any law relating to extradition, or otherwise liable to be apprehended or detained in custody in India.
• Who, being a released convict, commits a breach of any rule, made under sub-section (5) of section 365.
• For whose arrest any requisition, whether written or oral, has been received from another police officer, provided that the requisition specifies the person to be arrested and the offence or other cause for which the arrest is to be made and it appears therefrom that the person might lawfully be arrested without a warrant by the officer who issued the requisition.
  
  Question for Commonly Used Terms

  Try yourself:When can a police officer may without an order from a magistrate and without a warrant arrest any person?

  • A.

    Who has been concerned in any cognizable offence like murder, causing hurt, kidnapping etc.,
  • B.

    Who has been proclaimed as an offender either under this Code or by order of the State Government
  • C.

    Who obstructs a police officer while in the execution of his duty
  • D.

    all the above

  Explanation

  Any police officer may without an order from a magistrate and without a warrant, arrest any person:

  • Who has been concerned in any cognizable offence like murder, causing hurt, kidnapping etc., or against whom a reasonable complaint has been made, or credible information has been received, or a reasonable suspicion exists, of his having been so concerned.
  • Who has in his possession without lawful excuse, the burden of proving which excuse shall lie on such person, any implement of house-breaking.
  • Who obstructs a police officer while in the execution of his duty, or who has escaped, or attempts to escape, from lawful custody.

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3. Criminal Force

Whoever intentionally uses force to any person, without that person's consent, in order to the committing of any offence, or intending by the use of such force to cause, or knowing it to be likely that by the use of such force he will cause injury, fear or annoyance to the person to whom the force is used, is said to use criminal force to that other.

4. Hurt:

The essential ingredients of the offence of simple hurt are as follows:

• The offender voluntarily caused bodily pain, disease or infirmity to the victim.
• The offender did so with the intention of causing hurt or with the knowledge that he would thereby cause hurt to the victim.

Definition of Grievous Hurt
The offence of grievous hurt is defined by section 320 of the Indian Penal Code.
Section 320 says that the following eight kinds of hurt are designated as grievous:

• Emasculation.
• Permanent privation of the sight of either eye.
• Permanent privation of the hearing of either ear.
• Privation of any member or joint.
• Destruction or permanent impairing of the powers of any member or joint.
• Permanent disfiguration of the head or face.
• Fracture or dislocation of a bone or tooth.

5. Bail: 

Conditions that may be imposed by the Court

• A condition that the person shall make himself available for interrogation by the police officer as and when required.
• A condition that the person shall not, directly or indirectly, make any inducement, threat.
• Promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police officer.
• A condition that the person shall not leave India without the previous permission of the court.

Important Notes on Anticipatory Bail

• If such person is thereafter arrested and is prepared either at the time of arrest or at any time while in the custody of such officer to give bail, he shall be released on bail and the magistrate taking cognizance of such offence decides that warrant should be issued against that person, he shall issue a bailable warrant in conformity with the direction of the court granting anticipatory bail. 
• The applicant must show by disclosing special facts and events that he has reason to believe, that he may be arrested for a non-bailable offence so that the court may take care to specify the offence or offences in respect of which alone the order will be effective and it is not a blanket order covering all other offences.
• An accused is free on bail as long as the same is not cancelled. The High Court or Court of Session may direct that any person who has been released on bail be arrested and commit him to custody on an application moved by the complainant or the prosecution.

6. Obscenity

• The obscene actor song must cause annoyance. Though annoyance is an important ingredient of this offence, it is associated with a mental condition that has often to be inferred from proven facts.
• The essential elements are:
  (a) Does any obscene act in any public place,
  (b) Sings, recites or utters any obscene song ballads or words, in or near a public places. Whoever causes annoyance to others shall be punished with imprisonment, which may extend to three months, or with a fine, or both.

7. Forgery

• Forgery may be termed as the fraudulent making or alteration of a writing to the prejudice of another man's right.
• A person commits forgery if he makes any false document or any part of it with the intent to:
  (a) Cause damage or injury to the public or any person.
  (b) Support any claim or title.
  (c) Cause any person to part with the property.
  (d) Cause any person to enter an express or implied contract.
  (e) Commit any fraud or that the fraud may be committed

Forgery

8. Defamation

“Whoever by words, either spoken or intended to be read, or by signs or by visible representations, makes or publishes any imputation concerning any person intending to harm, or knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm, the reputation of s ch person, is said, except in the cases hereinafter excepted, to defame that person.”
The ingredients of the offense of defamation are as follows:

1. Making or publishing an imputation concerning any person;

2. Imputation made by:
a. words, spoken or intended to be read;
b. by signs;
c. by visible representations

3. With the intention of (or with the knowledge or with reason to believe that) the same will harm the reputation of the person concerned.
The meaning of 'publish' here is the same as for the definition of tort of 'defamation', i.e it must be communicated to some person other than the person being defamed. This is because a person's opinion of herself himself constitutes her/his 'reputation'.
It is relevant to point out here that a deceased person may also be defamed if the defamatory statement is of a nature that would have harmed the reputation of the person.
Q.1. Principle: Anyone who publishes a statement that is likely to injure the reputation of another is guilty of defamation.
Facts: Anup, a journalist, publishes an article accusing Namit Shah of encouraging the police to undertake encounters. Later on, it was discovered that Namit Shah had rewarded certain policemen for encounters. Is Anup liable for defamation?
Solution: Yes, Anup is liable for defamation as his statement that was published amounts to injury to Namit Shah's reputation.

9. Unlawful Assembly

An assembly of five or more persons is designated an "unlawful assembly", if the common object of the persons composing that assembly is:
(1) To overawe by criminal force, or show of criminal force the Central or any State Government or Parliament or the Legislature of any State] or any public servant in the exercise of the lawful power of such public servant.
(2) To resist the execution of any law. or of any legal process.
(3) To commit any mischief or criminal trespass, or other offense.
(4) By means of criminal force, or show of criminal force, to any person, to take or obtain possession of any property, or to deprive any person of the enjoyment of a right of way, or of the use of water or another incorporeal right of which he is in possession or enjoyment, or to enforce any right or supposed right.
(5) By means of criminal force, or show of criminal force, to compel any person to do what he is not legally bound to do, or to omit to do what he is legally entitled to do.
Explanation: An assembly that was not unlawful when it assembled, may subsequently become an unlawful assembly.