Concept

Burglary

Summary
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. Sir Edward Coke (1552–1634) explains at the start of Chapter 14 in the third part of Institutes of the Lawes of England (pub. 1644), that the word Burglar ("or the person that committeth burglary"), is derived from the words burgh and laron, meaning house-thieves. A note indicates he relies on the Brooke's case for this definition. According to one textbook, the etymology originates from Anglo-Saxon or Old English, one of the Germanic languages. (Perhaps paraphrasing Sir Edward Coke:) "The word burglar comes from the two German words burg, meaning "house", and laron, meaning "thief" (literally "house thief")." Another suggested etymology is from the later Latin word burgare, "to break open" or "to commit burglary", from burgus, meaning "fortress" or "castle", with the word then passing through French and Middle English, with influence from the Latin latro, "thief". The British verb "burgle" is a late back-formation. Ancient references to breaking into a house can be found in the Code of Hammurabi (no. 21) and the Jewish Bible (Exodus 22:2). Sir Edward Coke, in chapter 14 of the third part of the Institutes of the Lawes of England, describes the felony of Burglary and explains the various elements of the offence. He distinguished this from housebreaking because the night aggravated the offence since the night time was when man was at rest. He also described the night as the time when the countenance of a man could not be discerned. In Pleas of the Crown. A Methodical Summary, Sir Matthew Hale classifies Burglary and Arson as offences "against the dwelling or habitation".
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Related concepts (12)
Larceny
Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of England into their own law (also statutory law), where in many cases it remains in force. The crime of larceny has been abolished in England, Wales, Ireland, and Northern Ireland, broken up into the specific crimes of burglary, robbery, fraud, theft, and related crimes.
Common law offence
Common law offences are crimes under English criminal law, the related criminal law of some Commonwealth countries, and under some U.S. State laws. They are offences under the common law, developed entirely by the law courts, having no specific basis in statute. Under the criminal law of Australia the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Commonwealth) abolished all common law offences at the federal level. The Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia have also abolished common law offences, but they still apply in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria.
Intention (criminal law)
In criminal law, intent is a subjective state of mind (mens rea) that must accompany the acts of certain crimes to constitute a violation. A more formal, generally synonymous legal term is scienter: intent or knowledge of wrongdoing. Intent is defined in English law by the ruling in R v Mohan [1976] QB 1 as "the decision to bring about a prohibited consequence" (malum prohibitum). A range of words represents shades of intent in criminal laws around the world.
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