Accessory
Accessory
Accessory (law), in criminal law, accomplice in the commission of an offense as distinguished from the chief offender. An accessory before the fact is one who deliberately encourages others to commit an offense, but who does not take a direct part in the offense. An accessory after the fact is one who, knowing that an offense has been committed, takes active steps to shelter the offender from justice or to enable the offender to escape. Accessories must be distinguished from principals in the second degree, that is, persons who, although not the actual perpetrators of the crime, were nevertheless present and aided and abetted in the commission of the offense. The tendency of modern legislation has been to convert accessories before the fact into principals, and an accessory before the fact is often subject to a punishment as severe as that imposed upon a principal. An accessory after the fact, on the other hand, is subject to less severe penalties. (1)
Description of Accessory
In this reference work, accessory is a sort of the Criminal law category.
Accessory
Accessory
Resources
See Also
- Harbor
- Obstructing justice
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See Also
- Abettor
- Aid and abet
- Accomplice
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See Also
Resources
Notes and References
See Also
The Legal History of Accessory and Principal in Chinese Law
This section provides an overview of Accessory and Principal in Chinese Law
Resources
See Also
- Legal Biography
- Legal Traditions
- Historical Laws
- History of Law
Further Reading
- Accessory and Principal in Chinese Law in the Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History (Oxford University Press)
- The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Political and Legal History (Oxford University Press)
- Accessory and Principal in Chinese Law in the Dictionary of Concepts in History, by Harry Ritter
- A Short History of Western Legal Theory, by John Kelly
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