Crime against the person is the worst crime. Do you agree or disagree

Question

Crime against the person is the worst crime. Do you agree or disagree?

Answer

A crime against the person can have permanent consequences. In society high importance is placed on the safety and well-being of people. Hence, any crime that is carried out against a person, especially having permanent consequences can be deemed to be the worst crime as compared to other crimes. For instance, it has been generally agreed that causing the death of another person in a culpable manner is the offence that bears the most serious status out of all criminal offences (Herring,2011). This can be said to demonstrate the high value placed on the life of the individual by our society. When the death of another person is caused, this is a permanent injury. This is why the person that commits the murder, it being considered to be the most serious criminal offence, is hence the most culpable offender. This is because the crime is committed with a premeditated mens rea and without any justification or an excuse to exonerate such a person or to reduce their culpability. The seriousness of the offence is reflected in the sentence that is given to the culpable person- life imprisonment (Monaghan, 2014). In the past, murder carried a sentence of death penalty, but this has been now abolished.

When murder is compared to manslaughter, it can be clearly seen why it is considered to be the most serious criminal offence. Manslaughter can result without malice aforethought or in such circumstances that do not amount to murder. This is why life imprisonment with this criminal offence is discretionary. As it can be seen from these two offences, the seriousness that they bear is evaluated and it stems from the permanent effect an offence has had, and the value placed on it by society.

References

J Herring. (2011). Criminal Law. Palgrave Macmillan

N Monaghan. (2014). Criminal Law Directions. Oxford: Oxford University Press