Origin and Meaning of Crime: From Ancient Roots to Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023


Crime has been a subject of deep human curiosity since the dawn of civilization. Every society defines what is “wrong” differently  but what makes something a crime is when it becomes punishable by law.

Let’s trace the journey of the concept of crime from its linguistic origins to how it is legally understood under the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) in India.

Where Does the Word “Crime” Come From?

The word crime comes from the Latin root cernō, meaning “I decide” or “I give judgment.”
The Latin crīmen originally meant “charge”, “accusation”, or “cry of distress.”

Its Greek equivalent, krima, referred to an offence against the community, not just a personal sin showing that crime was always viewed as a social wrong, not merely a private injury.

By the 13th century, English adopted crime from Old French crimne to mean “sinfulness”. Over time, its meaning shifted from a moral fault to a legal offence punishable by the State.

What Is Crime?  Definitions by Jurists, Sociologists & Legal Scholars

A. Juristic Definitions

  1. Sir William Blackstone:

    “A crime is an act committed or omitted in violation of a public law forbidding or commanding it.”
    🔹 Blackstone’s view: Crime is a wrong against the State, not just an individual.

  2. John Austin:

    “Crime is a wrong which is pursued by the sovereign or his subordinates in the name of the State for the purpose of punishment.”
    🔹 Austin’s view: It emphasizes the public nature of crimes.

  3. Sir James Fitzjames Stephen:

    “A crime is a violation of a right, considered in reference to the evil tendency of such violation as regards the community at large.”
    🔹 Stephen’s view: Crime affects the whole society, not only one victim.

  4. Kenny:

    “Crimes are wrongs whose sanction is punitive and is in no way remissible by any private person, but is remissible only by the Crown (State).”
    🔹 Kenny’s view: Crime is a public wrong punished by the State’s authority, not settled privately.

B. Sociological Definitions

  1. Émile Durkheim:

    “Crime is an act which offends the strong, well-defined states of the collective conscience.”
    🔹 Crime is socially constructed what counts as a crime depends on what society deems morally offensive.

  2. Paul Tappan (1947):

    “A crime is an intentional act or omission in violation of criminal law, committed without defence or justification, and punished by the State.”
    🔹 Connects both mens rea (guilty mind) and punishment.

  3. Sutherland and Cressey:

    “Crime is a behaviour prohibited by the State as an injury to the State and subject to punishment.”
    🔹 Emphasizes the State’s role in defining and enforcing what counts as a crime.

C. Legal Definitions

  1. Oxford English Dictionary:

    “An act or omission which constitutes an offence and is punishable by law.”

  2. Oxford Dictionary of Sociology:

    “An offence which goes beyond the personal and into the public sphere, breaking prohibitory rules or laws, to which legitimate punishments or sanctions are attached, and which requires the intervention of a public authority.”

The Legal Understanding of Crime in India

🏛️ Under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860

The IPC did not define “crime” directly.
However, any act or omission made punishable under the Code was considered an offence, and therefore a crime in legal sense.

Under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, replaced the IPC and modernized India’s criminal law.

  • Section 3(38), BNS, 2023 defines “offence” as:

    “Offence means any act or omission made punishable by this Sanhita or any other law for the time being in force.”

🔹 Hence, under BNS, crime = offence punishable by law, preserving the traditional essence while updating structure and clarity.

Under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023

The BNSS, 2023 replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973 and governs procedure investigation, trial, and punishment.

  • Section 2(n), BNSS, 2023 states:

    “Offence means any act or omission made punishable by any law for the time being in force.”

🔹 While BNS defines what is a crime, BNSS provides how the crime is processed and punished.

Conclusion

From the ancient krima of Greece to the crīmen of Rome and the modern offence of Indian law, crime has always represented society’s boundary between order and chaos.

In today’s India, under BNS and BNSS, the essence remains unchanged:

Any act or omission punishable by law is a crime a public wrong demanding the intervention of justice.

Crime, in its truest sense, is not merely a legal violation but a mirror of society’s evolving moral conscience what we choose to protect, and what we refuse to tolerate.


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