Battery (crime)

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Battery is a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact, distinct from assault, which is the act of creating apprehension of such contact.

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Battery is a specific common law offense, although the term is used more generally to refer to any unlawful offensive physical contact with another person. Battery is defined by American common law as "any unlawful and/or unwanted touching of the person of another by the aggressor, or by a substance put in motion by them". In more severe cases, and for all types in some jurisdictions, it is chiefly defined by statutory wording. Assessment of the severity of a battery is determined by local law.

Generally

Specific rules regarding battery vary among different jurisdictions, but some elements remain constant across jurisdictions. Battery generally requires that:

  1. an offensive touch or contact is made upon the victim, instigated by the actor; and
  2. the actor intends or knows that their action will cause the offensive touching.

Under the US Model Penal Code and in some jurisdictions, there is battery when the actor acts recklessly without specific intent of causing an offensive contact. Battery is typically classified as either simple or aggravated. Although battery typically occurs in the context of physical altercations, it may also occur under other circumstances, such as in medical cases where a doctor performs a non-consented medical procedure.

Specific countries

Canada

Battery is not defined in the Canadian Criminal Code. Instead, the Code has an offense of assault, and assault causing bodily harm.

England and Wales

Battery is a common law offence within England and Wales.

As with the majority of offences in the UK, it has two elements:

This offence is a crime against autonomy, with more violent crimes such as ABH and GBH being statutory offences under the Offences against the Person Act 1861.

As such, even the slightest of touches can amount to an unlawful application of force. [1] However, it is assumed that everyday encounters (such as making contact with others on public transportation) are consented to and not punishable. [2]

Much confusion can come between the terms "assault" and "battery". In everyday use the term assault may be used to describe a physical attack, which is indeed a battery. An assault is causing someone to apprehend that they will be the victim of a battery. This issue is so prevalent that the crime of sexual assault [3] would be better labelled a sexual battery. This confusion stems from the fact that both assault and battery can be referred to as common assault. In practice, if charged with such an offence, the wording will read "assault by beating", but this means the same as "battery".

There is no separate offence for a battery relating to domestic violence; however, the introduction of the crime of "controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship" in section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 [4] has given rise to new sentencing guidelines [5] that take into account significant aggravating factors such as abuse of trust, resulting in potentially longer sentences for acts of battery within the context of domestic violence.

Whether it is a statutory offence

In DPP v Taylor, DPP v Little, [6] it was held that battery is a statutory offence, contrary to section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. [7] This decision was criticised in Haystead v DPP [8] where the Divisional court expressed the obiter opinion that battery remains a common law offence.

Therefore, whilst it may be a better view that battery and assault have statutory penalties, rather than being statutory offences, it is still the case that until review by a higher court, DPP v Little is the preferred authority. [9]

Mode of trial and sentence

In England and Wales, battery is a summary offence under section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. However, by virtue of section 40, it can be tried on indictment where another indictable offence is also charged which is founded on the same facts or together with which it forms part of a series of offences of similar character. Where it is tried on indictment a Crown Court has no greater powers of sentencing than a magistrates' court would.

It is punishable with imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or both.

Russia

There is an offence which could be (loosely) described as battery in Russia. Article 116 [10] of the Russian Criminal Code provides that battery or similar violent actions which cause pain are an offence.

Scotland

There is no distinct offence of battery in Scotland. The offence of assault includes acts that could be described as battery.

United States

In the United States, criminal battery, or simple battery, is the use of force against another, resulting in harmful or offensive contact, including sexual contact. [11] At common law, simple battery is a misdemeanor. The prosecutor must prove all three elements beyond a reasonable doubt:

  1. an unlawful application of force
  2. to the person of another
  3. resulting in either bodily injury or offensive touching.

The common-law elements serve as a basic template, but individual jurisdictions may alter them, and they may vary slightly from state to state.[ citation needed ]

Under modern statutory schemes, battery is often divided into grades that determine the severity of punishment. For example:

Kansas

In the state of Kansas, battery is defined as follows: [15]

Battery.
(a) Battery is:
(1) Knowingly or recklessly causing bodily harm to another person; or
(2) knowingly causing physical contact with another person when done in a rude, insulting, or angry manner.

Louisiana

The law on battery in Louisiana reads: [16]

§ 33. Battery defined:
Battery is the intentional use of force or violence upon the person of another; or the intentional administration of a poison or other noxious liquid or substance to another.

Jurisdictional differences

In some jurisdictions, battery has recently been constructed to include directing bodily secretions (i.e., spitting) at another person without their permission. Some of those jurisdictions automatically elevate such a battery to the charge of aggravated battery. In some jurisdictions, the charge of criminal battery also requires evidence of a mental state ( mens rea ). The terminology used to refer to a particular offense can also vary by jurisdiction. Some jurisdictions, such as New York, refer to what, under the common-law, would-be battery as assault, and then use another term for the crime that would have been assault, such as menacing.

Distinction between battery and assault

A typical overt behavior of an assault is Person A chasing Person B and swinging a fist toward their head. That for battery is A striking B.

Battery requires:

Assault, where rooted on English law, is an attempted battery or the act of intentionally placing a person in apprehension of a harmful or offensive contact with their person. Elsewhere it is often similarly worded as the threat of violence to a person while aggravated assault is the threat with the clear and present ability and willingness to carry it out. Aggravated battery is, typically, offensive touching without a tool or weapon with attempt to harm or restrain.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assault</span> Physical or verbal attack of another person

An assault is the illegal act of causing physical harm or unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in criminal prosecution, civil liability, or both. Additionally, assault is a criminal act in which a person intentionally causes fear of physical harm or offensive contact to another person. Assault can be committed with or without a weapon and can range from physical violence to threats of violence. Assault is frequently referred to as an attempt to commit battery, which is the deliberate use of physical force against another person. The deliberate inflicting of fear, apprehension, or terror is another definition of assault that can be found in several legal systems. Depending on the severity of the offense, assault may result in a fine, imprisonment, or even death.

Burglary, also called breaking and entering (B&E) and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of illegally entering a building or other areas without permission, typically with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, larceny, robbery, or murder, but most jurisdictions include others within the ambit of burglary. To commit burglary is to burgle, a term back-formed from the word burglar, or to burglarize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intimidation</span> Intentional behaviour meant to cause a person humiliation, embarrassment, and discomfort

Intimidation is a behaviour and legal wrong which usually involves deterring or coercing an individual by threat of violence. It is in various jurisdictions a crime and a civil wrong (tort). Intimidation is similar to menacing, coercion, terrorizing and assault in the traditional sense.

At common law, battery is a tort falling under the umbrella term 'trespass to the person'. Entailing unlawful contact which is directed and intentional, or reckless and voluntarily bringing about a harmful or offensive contact with a person or to something closely associated with them, such as a bag or purse, without legal consent.

Assault occasioning grievous bodily harm is a term used in English criminal law to describe the severest forms of battery. It refers to two offences that are created by sections 18 and 20 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861. The distinction between these two sections is the requirement of specific intent for section 18; the offence under section 18 is variously referred to as "wounding with intent" or "causing grievous bodily harm with intent", whereas the offence under section 20 is variously referred to as "unlawful wounding", "malicious wounding" or "inflicting grievous bodily harm".

In common law, assault is the tort of acting intentionally, that is with either general or specific intent, causing the reasonable apprehension of an immediate harmful or offensive contact. Assault requires intent, it is considered an intentional tort, as opposed to a tort of negligence. Actual ability to carry out the apprehended contact is not necessary. 'The conduct forbidden by this tort is an act that threatens violence.'

Assault causing bodily harm is a statutory offence of assault in Canada with aggravating factors. It is committed by anyone who, in committing an assault, causes bodily harm to the complainant. It is the Canadian equivalent to the statutory offence in England and Wales of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. In Canada, a consensual fight is not considered an assault, but one cannot consent to an assault causing bodily harm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Offences Against the Person Act 1861</span> UK criminal statute

The Offences against the Person Act 1861 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions related to offences against the person from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act. For the most part these provisions were, according to the draftsman of the Act, incorporated with little or no variation in their phraseology. It is one of a group of Acts sometimes referred to as the Criminal Law Consolidation Acts 1861. It was passed with the object of simplifying the law. It is essentially a revised version of an earlier Consolidation Act, the Offences Against the Person Act 1828, incorporating subsequent statutes.

Assault occasioning actual bodily harm is a statutory offence of aggravated assault in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Hong Kong and the Solomon Islands. It has been abolished in the Republic of Ireland and in South Australia, but replaced with a similar offence.

Common assault is an offence in English law. It is committed by a person who causes another person to apprehend the immediate use of unlawful violence by the defendant. In England and Wales, the penalty and mode of trial for this offence is provided by section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988.

In criminal law, the term offence against the person or crime against the person usually refers to a crime which is committed by direct physical harm or force being applied to another person.

The precise definitions of and punishments for aggravated sexual assault and aggravated rape vary by country and by legislature within a country.

Rape is a type of sexual assault initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, under threat or manipulation, by impersonation, or with a person who is incapable of giving valid consent.

Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th century BC.

In common law jurisdictions, statutory rape is nonforcible sexual activity in which one of the individuals is below the age of consent. Although it usually refers to adults engaging in sexual contact with minors under the age of consent, it is a generic term, and very few jurisdictions use the actual term statutory rape in the language of statutes. In statutory rape, overt force or threat is usually not present. Statutory rape laws presume coercion because a minor or mentally disabled adult is legally incapable of giving consent to the act. It is also considered as statutory rape even if the victim is above age of consent, and if the perpetrator is in an authority position such as a teacher, a doctor or a parent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ages of consent in the United States</span> U.S. law on age of consent to sexual activity

In the United States, each state and territory sets the age of consent either by statute or the common law applies, and there are several federal statutes related to protecting minors from sexual predators. Depending on the jurisdiction, the legal age of consent is between 16 and 18. In some places, civil and criminal laws within the same state conflict with each other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criminal law of the United States</span>

Criminal law is a system of laws that is connected with crimes and punishments of an individual who commits crimes. In comparison, civil law is where the case argues their issues with one entity to another entity with support of the law. Crimes can vary in definition by jurisdiction but the basis for a crime are fairly consistent regardless.

Non-fatal offences against the person, under English law, are generally taken to mean offences which take the form of an attack directed at another person, that do not result in the death of any person. Such offences where death occurs are considered homicide, whilst sexual offences are generally considered separately, since they differ substantially from other offences against the person in theoretical basis and composition. Non-fatal offences against the person mainly derive from the Offences against the Person Act 1861, although no definition of assault or battery is given there.

In England and formerly in Wales, battery punishment by parents of their minor children is lawful by tradition and explicitly under common law by R v Hopley [1860] 2F&F 202 :

By the law of England, a parent ... may for the purpose of correcting what is evil in the child inflict moderate and reasonable corporal punishment, always, however, with this condition, that it is moderate and reasonable.

Rape laws vary across the United States jurisdictions. However, rape is federally defined for statistical purposes as:

Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.

References

  1. R v Afolabi [2017] EWHC 2960
  2. Collins v Wilcock [1984] 3 ALL ER 374 (QBD)
  3. "Sexual Offences Act 2003: Section 3", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 2003 c. 42 (s. 3), retrieved January 10, 2018
  4. "Serious Crime Act 2015: Section 76", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 2015 c. 9 (s. 76)
  5. "Overarching Principles: Domestic Abuse" (PDF). Sentencing Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 9, 2018.
  6. DPP v Taylor, DPP v Little [1992] 1 QB 645, 95 Cr App R 28
  7. "Criminal Justice Act 1988: Section 39", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 1988 c. 33 (s. 39)
  8. Haystead v Chief Constable of Derbyshire [2000] EWHC 181(QB) (12 May 2000), High Court (England and Wales)
  9. Smith & Hogan (2008). Criminal Law. Oxford University Press. p. 584.
  10. "ПРЕСТУПЛЕНИЯ ПРОТИВ ЖИЗНИ И ЗДОРОВЬЯ - Уголовный кодекс РФ (УК РФ) от 13 June 1996 N 63-ФЗ \ Консультант Плюс" [CRIMES AGAINST LIFE AND HEALTH - The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Criminal Code) of 13 June 1996 N 63-ФЗ Consultant Plus] (in Russian). Consultant.ru. Archived from the original on December 13, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  11. Black's Law Dictionary Garner, p. 162
  12. "794.011 Sexual Battery Unspecified". offender.fdle.state.fl.us/. Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Archived from the original on February 16, 2007. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
  13. "Florida Statute on Aggravated Battery". Florida Legislature. Archived from the original on December 11, 2011. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  14. "Florida Statute on Felony Battery". Florida Legislature. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  15. "Kansas Statutes, Sec. 21-5413. Battery; aggravated battery; battery against certain persons; aggravated battery against certain persons". Kansas Legislature. 2017. Archived from the original on September 24, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  16. "SUBPART B. ASSAULT AND BATTERY (WITH RELATED OFFENSES)". legis.la.gov/. Louisiana State Legislature. Retrieved March 4, 2015.[ permanent dead link ]