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CLASSIFICATION OF OFFENCES
- The motive may not be criminal, but once the intention is criminal then the offender becomes liable.
- Motive is the reason behind an action. Intention is the goal set out to be achieved.
- The law is blind to emotions.
- The intention of an accused = Motive (Reason behind the action). The actual intention of the accused = outcome purpose (What the action seeks to achieve or CAN achieve). Intention is proved after the actus has taken place.
- The various crimes that exist in a statute can be categorized into types, this categorization may sometimes be for academic purposes or have profound legal consequences. More often, a statute that provides for the various offences will usually state how these offences are to be viewed. Generally speaking, offences may be categorized based on the gravity of the offence or the nature of the offence or the procedures through which the offence is being committed or administered. That is to say classification of an offence can be based on administration of Justice Procedure in relation to the crime, the amount of sentence attached to the crime and how grievous the offence is. For example, an offence may be categorized based on the act in question. For instance, you can have offences against a person, property, state under English law.
In Nigeria, all crimes are statute-based i.e. crimes that are not contained in the statute are unknown to the criminal system in Nigeria. Note that the principal classification of criminal is based on the procedural or substantiative law. Summary offences that can tried by the court summarily.
Indictable offences are offences cannot be tried summarily but based on information and goes through criminal trial.
Note that as substantiative criminal law is concerned in Nigeria, the criminal code under Section 3 categories offences into 3 and these are felonies, misdemeanor and simple offences.
A Felony is an offence which upon conviction of 3 years or more imprisonment up to death sentence i.e. to say a felony is the highest form of crime as far as crime law is concerned. There is no higher crime than felony under the criminal code. Crimes which are categorized as felony are usually seen by the society as grievous and should be given stiffer punishment. The least sentence he can get 3 years and this is even when the judge feels otherwise, it cannot go below 3 years.
Felony: 3 years minimum or above or death. The phrase without “Proof of previous conviction” may affect the amount of sentence that may be imposed on a felony.
Previous conviction can make the judge to give more sentences.
A misdemeanor under criminal code is an offence which has declared written by any criminal law which is 6 months sentencing and not up to 3 years at maximum. In other words, 6 months – Less than 3 years.
Simple offences
Under the criminal code, offences which are either categorized as felony or misdemeanor. These are not as grievous as felony or misdemeanor. Less than 6 months sentence is associated with simple offences, for carry imprisonment that is less than 6 months, the ruling though is outdated but has been applied to several Nigerian cases. It simply says that once a person is accused of committing a felony which at the same time amounts to a tort, the person is expected to be prosecuted first before a civil action is brought.
The possible legal implication for the various classification:
- If a person commits a misdemeanor or simple offence, he can get a liberal bail condition than when he commits a felony. Bail can be with liberal condition. Bail can be with strict condition.
- Some of offences are not triable in magistrate based on their grievous nature. E.g. Armed robbery, murder.
- Arrest for misdemeanor and simple offences, private citizens may not be able to arrest without warranty of arrest, but in a case of felony private citizens can arrest without warrant of arrest.