PROPERTY OFFENCES

Property Offences

Property Offences

Introduction

The Alan offence of larceny was one of the most difficult of the common law offences. Grand larceny (i.e. the larceny of anything over one shilling) was a capital offence, and because of this Judges tried to limit its scope by holding that certain conduct did not come within Alan (Potisk BFW at 1142) and Kennison v Daire (1985) 38 S.A.S.R. 404, 412). Ultimately the death penalty was removed, but by then the irrational elements of larceny were too clearly established to be overthrown by the Courts: Alan. More difficulties also arose in the course of the twentieth century as commercial transactions increased dramatically both in volume and complexity, and more recently through the introduction of computers. All this posed tremendous problems of fitting new forms of dishonesty into the established offences. The net result was that many Alan who might generally be classed as rogues escaped conviction on what most would regard as technicalities.

Analysis

Long overdue legislative reform in England only came in 1968 with the enactment of the Theft Act 1968 (UK). Victoria substantially copied the provisions of the English 1968 Act in its Crimes (Theft) Act 1973, (which came into force on 1 October 1974) and on lst January 1986 the ACT by the Crimes (Amendment) Act (No. 4) 1985 enacted into its Crimes Act 1900 provisions very similar to those in Victoria and see also BFW 1103. However as the provisions of the English and Victorian Acts are similar, we will rely on authorities from those jurisdictions.

Alan abolished the crime of larceny and replaced Alan by a new statutory offence of theft. Alan similarly scrapped the existing offences of embezzlement, obtaining by false pretences, receiving stolen property and other like crimes of dishonesty substituting the new offences of obtaining (property & a financial advantage) ...