Theft

A young waif steals a pair of boots.

In criminal law, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's freely-given consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting, fraud and sometimes criminal conversion. In some jurisdictions, theft is considered to be synonymous with larceny; in others, theft has replaced larceny.

Someone who carries out an act of or makes a career of theft is known as a thief, and the act of theft is known as stealing, thieving, or sometimes filching.

Elements

Criminal law
Part of the common law series
Element (criminal law)
Actus reus · Mens rea Causation · Concurrence
Scope of criminal liability
Complicity · Corporate · Vicarious
Inchoate offenses
Attempt · Conspiracy · Solicitation
Offence against the person
Assault · Battery False imprisonment · Kidnapping Mayhem · Sexual assault Homicide crimes Murder · Felony murder Manslaughter Negligent homicide Vehicular homicide
Crimes against property
Arson · Blackmail · Burglary Embezzlement · Extortion False pretenses · Larceny Receiving stolen property Robbery · Theft
Crimes against justice
Compounding · Misprision Obstruction · Perjury Malfeasance in office Perverting the course of justice
Defenses to liability
Defense of self Defence of property Consent · Diminished responsibility Duress · Entrapment Ignorantia juris non excusat Infancy · Insanity Intoxication defense Justification · Mistake (of law) Necessity · Loss of Control (Provocation)
Other common law areas
Contracts · Evidence · Property Torts · Wills, trusts and estates
Portals
Criminal justice · Law

Bicycles can occasionally be stolen, even when locked up, by removing the wheel or cutting the lock that holds them.

The actus reus of theft is usually defined as an unauthorised taking, keeping or using of another's property which must be accompanied by a mens rea of dishonesty and/or the intent to permanently deprive the owner or the person with rightful possession of that property or its use.

For example, if X goes to a restaurant and, by mistake, takes Y's scarf instead of her own, she has physically deprived Y of the use of the property (which is the actus reus) but the mistake prevents X from forming the mens rea (i.e. because she believes that she is the owner, she is not dishonest and does not intend to deprive the "owner" of it) so no crime has been committed at this point. But if she realises the mistake when she gets home and could return the scarf to Y, she will steal the scarf if she dishonestly keeps it. Note that there may be civil liability for the torts of trespass to chattels or conversion in either eventuality.

By region

Theft in English law

In English law, theft was codified into a statutory offence in the Theft Act 1968 which defines it as:

"A person is guilty of theft, if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it". (Section 1)

The five elements of the offence are defined sequentially in the Act:

• Section 2 dishonesty;
• Section 3 "appropriation" which occurs when the defendant wrongfully asserts the rights of ownership over the property. This can be by physical taking, but it will also include many different situations (i.e. a failure to return or omission) in which a person may have lawfully come into possession of the property and then keeps or uses the property in an unauthorised way;
• Section 4 "property" includes all personalty, i.e. land itself cannot be stolen but anything severed from the land (with the exception of wild flowers) can be stolen, as can intangible property such as a chose in action; however it seems that the term does not extend to all intangible property, as information (Oxford v. Moss) and trade secrets (R v. Absolom, The Times, 14 September 1983) have been held not to fall within the Section 4 definition of property.
• Section 5 "belonging to another" requires a distinction to be made between ownership, possession and control:

ownership is where a person is not legally accountable to anyone else for the use of the property:

possession is where a person is only because it had been physically removed but there were two issues to be decided:

did the car "belong to another"? The garage had a lien i.e. a "proprietary right or interest" in the car as security for the unpaid bill and this gave the garage a better right than the owner to possess the car at the relevant time.

what was the relevance of Turner's belief that he could not steal his own property? The defence of mistake of law) only applies if the defendant honestly believes that he has a right in law to act in the given way. Generalised and non-specific beliefs about what the law might permit are not a defence.

• Section 6 "with the intent to permanently deprive the other of it" is sufficiently flexible to include situations where the property is later returned. For example, suppose that B, a keen football fan, has bought a ticket for the next home match. T takes the ticket, watches the match and then returns the ticket to B. In this instance, all that T returns is a piece of paper. Its value as a licence to enter the stadium on a particular day has been permanently lost. Hence, T steals the ticket. Similarly, if T takes a valuable antique but later repents and returns the goods, T has committed the actus reus with the mens rea. The fact that T's conscience forces a change of mind is relevant only for sentencing.

The maximum sentence in the Crown Court is seven years (section 7).

If the act of stealing is already complete before another comes into possession of the goods, this may be handling. For alternative charges involving deceptions, see the deception offences and the Theft Act 1978 which may overlap with s1 Theft. For the theft of motor vehicles with or without violence, see robbery, blackmail and TWOC.

Victoria, Australia

Theft is defined at s.72 of the Crimes Act 1958. The actus reus and mens rea are defined as follows:

Actus reus

Appropriation - defined at s.73(4) of the Crimes Act 1958 as the assumption of any of the owners rights. It does not have be all the owner's rights, as long as at least one right has been assumed(Stein v Henshall). If the owner gave their consent to the appropriation there cannot be an appropriation(Baruday v R). However, if this consent is obtained by deception, this consent is vitiated.

Property - defined at s.71(1) of the Crimes Act 1958 as being both tangible property, including money and intangible property. Information has been held not be property(Oxford v Moss).

Belonging to another - s.73(5) that property belongs to another if that person has ownership, possession, or a proprietary interest in the property. Property can belong to more than one person. s.73(9) & s.73(10) deal with situations where the accused receives property under an obligation or by mistake.

Mens rea

Intention to permanently deprive - defined at s.73(12) as treating property as it belongs to the accused, rather than the owner.

Dishonestly - s.73(2) creates a negative definition of the term 'dishonestly'. The section deems only three circumstances when the accused is deemed to have been acting honestly. These are a belief in a legal claim of right (s.73(2)(a)), a belief that the owner would have consented (s.73(2)(b)), or a belief the owner could not be found(s.73(2)(c))

United States

In the U.S., plenary regulation of theft exists only at the state level, in the sense that most thefts by default will be prosecuted by the state in which the theft occurred. The federal government has criminalized certain narrow categories of theft which directly affect federal agencies or interstate commerce.

Although many U.S. states have retained larceny as the primary offence,^[1] some have now adopted theft provisions.

For example, California's Theft Act of 1927 consolidated a variety of common law crimes into theft. The state now distinguishes between two types of theft, grand theft and petty theft.^[2] Grand theft generally consists of the theft of something of value over $400 (it can be money, labor or property),^[3] while petty theft is the default category for all other thefts.^[4] Grand theft is punishable by up to a year in jail or prison, and may be charged (depending upon the circumstances) as a misdemeanor or felony.^[5] while petty theft is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine or six months in jail.^[6] As for the older crimes of embezzlement, larceny, and stealing, any preexisting references to them now mean theft instead.^[7]

In many states, grand theft of a vehicle is charged as "grand theft auto" (see motor vehicle theft for more information).

Repeated offenders who continue to steal may become subject to life imprisonment in certain states. ^[8]

Canada

Vehicle with broken window.

Theft is dealt with by Part 9 of the Criminal Code of Canada which is the part that covers property crime. Section 322 in Part 9 creates a general definition of theft, while other sections such as section 326 (which deals with the theft of gas, electricity and telecommunication services) define special kinds of theft. According to the general definition in section 322 a person steals a thing if he or she takes or converts it fraudulently, without colour of right and with intent to deprive the owner of it, either permanently or temporarily. For the purposes of punishment theft is divided into two separate offences by section 334 depending on the value and nature of the goods stolen. If the thing stolen is worth more than $5000 or is a testamentary instrument the offence is commonly referred to as Theft Over $5000 and is an indictable offence with a maximum punishment of 10 years imprisonment. Where the stolen item is not a testamentary instrument and is not worth more than $5000 it is known as Theft Under $5000 and is a hybrid offence, meaning that it can be treated either as an indictable offence or a less serious summary conviction offence, depending on the choice of the prosecutor. If dealt with as an indictable offence Theft Under $5000 is punishable by imprisonment for not more than 2 years and, if treated as a summary conviction offence, 6 months imprisonment, a fine of $2000 or both.

West Indies

In the British West Indies, especially Grenada, there have been a spate of large-scale thefts of tons of sand from beaches.^[9] Both Grenada and Jamaica are considering increasing fines and jail time for the thefts.^[9]

Romania

By the Romanian Penal Code for theft (furt) a person can face a penalty ranging from 1 to 20 years.

Degrees of theft:

A: Theft (1 to 12 years)
When a person steals a thing, or uses a vehicle without permission and no aggravating circumstances applies.

B: Qualified theft (basically 3 to 15 years but there can be special cases when penalty range is from 4 to 18 years and even 10 to 20 years)

• Aggravating circumstances - 3 to 15 years: a) by two or more persons together b) by a person who detains a gun or a narcotic substance c) by a masked or disguised person d) against a person who is in impossibility of self defence e) in a public place f) in a public transportation vehicle g) during the night h) during a natural disaster i) by effraction, or by using an original or copyed key j) things belongs to the cultural patrimonium k) stealing official identity papers with intention to make use of them l) stealing official identity badges with intention to make use of them

• Aggravating circumstances - 4 to 18 years : a) stealing petrol based products directly from transportation pipes and vehicles or deposits b) stealing components from national electrification, telecommunication, irrigation networks or from any type of navigational system c) stealing a public alertation device d) stealing a public intervention vehicle or device e) when periclitating the safety of public transportation.

• Aggravating circumstances - 10 to 20 years : When the consequences are extremely grave and affects some public institutions or the material prejudice is over 200.000 RON (Approximately 80.000 USD).

Notes

References

• Allen, Michael. Textbook on Criminal Law. Oxford University Press, Oxford. (2005) ISBN 0-19-927918-7.
• Criminal Law Revision Committee. 8th Report. Theft and Related Offences. Cmnd. 2977
• Griew, Edward. Theft Acts 1968 & 1978, Sweet & Maxwell. ISBN 0-421-19960-1
• Ormerod, David. Smith and Hogan Criminal Law, LexisNexis, London. (2005) ISBN 0-406-97730-5
• Maniscalco, Fabio, Theft of Art (in Italian), Naples - Massa (2000) ISBN 88-87835-00-4
• Smith, J. C. Law of Theft, LexisNexis: London. (1997) ISBN 0-406-89545-7.

See also

• Anti-theft system
• Asset management (corporate theft prevention)
• Confidence trick
• Counterfeit
• Credit card fraud
• Dishonesty
• Fence (criminal)
• Force-initiation
• Fraud
• Larceny
• Money laundering
• Organized crime
• Pickpocketing
• Secret profit
• Skimming (casinos)
• White-collar crime

Specific forms of theft and other related offences

• Art theft
• Bank robbery
• Bandwidth theft
• Carjacking
• Computer crime
• Copyright infringement
• Data theft
• Economic Espionage Act of 1996
• Embezzlement
• Espionage
• Extortion
• Identity theft
• Kidnapping
• Laptop theft
• Metal theft
• Motor vehicle theft
• Organized retail crime
• Package pilferage
• Plagiarism
• Piracy
• Receipt of stolen property
• Street sign theft
• Tax evasion
• Theft of services