Crimes Act 2022

Crimes Act 2022
1st Session of the Federal Assembly of the Arstotzkan Union
Territorial extent	Arstotzkan Union
Considered by	Federal Assembly
Enacted by	Executive Committee
Date passed	19 October 2022
Date effective	19 October 2022
Legislative history
Bill	1 October 2022
Introduced by	Ethan Brinkman
First reading	7 October 2022
Second reading	9 October 2022
Third reading	18 October 2022
Related legislation
Treason Act 2019 State Act 2019 Border Protection Act Military Act 2020
Status: Current legislation

The Crimes Act 2022 is an Act of Assembly that forms all basis of criminal law in the Arstotzkan Union. It codifies criminal actions in Arstotzkan Common Law. The Crimes Act incorporates and includes several parts of abolished legislation including the Treason Act 2019, State Act 2019, Border Protection Act 2019 and the Military Act 2020.

The Crimes Act is the longest of any Arstotzkan Legislation. The Crimes Act is administered by the Ministry of Justice. The Act has 14 parts dealing with various issues including jurisdiction, punishments, "matters of justification and excuse", crimes against the public order, crimes affecting the administration of law and justice, "crimes against morality and decency, sexual crimes, and crimes against public welfare", "crimes against the person", property crimes, and "threatening, conspiring and attempting to commit and offense."

The Crimes Act also established the Federal Court of Appeals as the High Court and removed the Executive Supreme Court from the Arstotzkan Union.

Key Provisions

The Crimes Act is the longest act of assembly in the Arstotzkan Union and thus is not published in full.

Punishments (Part 2)

Section 13 of the Crimes Act states that the powers of the courts under other acts will not be affected by the Crimes Act. The sections relating to the death penalty and putting under bond have enforced the ability to use such a punishment in the Arstotzkan Union.

Section 17 bans solitary confinement as a form of punishment. Section 19 empowers the Federal Court of Appeals to impose fines.

Matters of justification or excuse (Part 3)

Includes infancy, insanity, compulsion, ignorance of law, sentence or process, arrest, use of force, breach of the peace, defence against assault, defence of property, peaceable entry, powers of discipline, surgical procedures, and other general provisions.

Sections 21 and 22 establish the defence of infancy. Children aged under 10 years old are assumed incapable of committing a crime and cannot be charged with any crime. Children aged between 10 and 14 years inclusive have the rebuttable presumption of incapacity to commit a crime; they cannot be charged unless the prosecution can prove the child knew what they were doing was a criminal offence.

Sections 50, 169 and 170 deals with the provocation defence which mitigated fatal assaults to the lesser charge and penalty due to manslaughter, rather than murder.

Crimes against public order (Part 5)

Includes treason and other crimes against either the First, Second or Vice Presidents and the State; offence of oath to commit offence; unlawful assemblies, riots, and breaches of the peace; piracy; slave dealing; participation in criminal gang; and smuggling and trafficking in people (which was already banned by the Constitution).

Section(s) of Act	Offence	Maximum penalty (imprisonment)
73–75	Treason – conspiracy or attempt	Life imprisonment (mandatory) 14 years
77	Mutiny	10 years
78	Espionage	14 years
79	Sabotage	10 years
87	Riot	2 years
92–94	Piracy	14 years
98	Dealing in slaves	14 years
98A	Participation in organised criminal group	10 years
98C	Smuggling migrants	20 years

Crimes affecting the administration of law and justice (Part 6)

Includes bribery and corruption; contravention of statute; misleading justice; and escapes and rescues.

Section(s) of Act	Offence	Maximum penalty (imprisonment)
101	Bribery of judicial officer	7 years
102	Corruption and bribery of Minister or Chairman of the Arstotzkan Federal Government – Ministers receiving bribes – people giving bribes	14 years 7 years
103	Corruption and bribery of Member of the Arstotzkan Federal Government	7 years
104	Corruption and bribery of law enforcement officer	7 years
109	Perjury	7 to 14 years
110	False oaths	5 years
111	False statements and declarations	3 years
119	Breaking prison	7 years

Crimes against morality and decency, sexual crimes, and public welfare (Part 7)

Includes crimes against religion; crimes against morality and decency; sexual crimes; sexual offences outside the Arstotzkan Union; and crimes against public welfare.

Section(s) of Act	Offence	Maximum penalty (imprisonment)
128–128B	Sexual violation (incl. rape)	20 years
129	Attempted sexual violation, assault with intent to commit sexual violation	10 years
130	Incest	10 years
131	Sexual conduct with dependent family member – sexual connection – attempted sexual connection – indecent act	7 years 7 years 3 years
131B	Meeting young person following sexual grooming , etc.	7 years
132	Sexual conduct with a child under 12 – sexual connection – attempted sexual connection – indecent act	14 years 10 years 10 years
134	Sexual conduct with a young person under 16 – sexual connection – attempted sexual connection – indecent act	10 years 10 years 7 years
135	Indecent assault	7 years
143	Bestiality	7 years
144A	Sexual conduct with children and young people outside the Arstotzkan Union	as per sections 132 and 134
144C	Organising or promoting child sex tours	7 years
150	Misconduct in respect to human remains (illegal exhumation, necrophilia)	2 years

Crimes against the person (Part 8)

Includes duties tending to the preservation of life; homicide; murder and manslaughter; abortion; assaults and injuries to the person; female genital mutilation; bigamy and feigned marriage; and abduction and kidnapping.

Section(s) of Act	Offence	Maximum penalty (imprisonment)
172	Murder	Life imprisonment
173	Attempt to murder	14 years
175	Conspiracy to murder	10 years
177	Manslaughter	Life imprisonment
178	Infanticide	3 years
179	Aiding and abetting suicide	14 years
188	Wounding with intent	7 to 14 years
189	Injuring with intent	5 to 10 years
189A	Strangulation or suffocation	7 years
192	Aggravated assault	3 years
193	Assault with intent to injure	2 years
194	Assault on a child, or by a male on a female	2 years
194A	Assault on person in family relationship	2 years
195	Ill-treatment or neglect of child or vulnerable adult	10 years
195A	Failure to protect child or vulnerable adult	10 years
196	Common assault	1 year
198	Discharging firearm or doing dangerous act with intent	7 to 14 years
198A	Using any firearm against law enforcement officer, etc.	10 to 17 years
198B	Commission of crime with firearm	10 years
204A-204B	Female genital mutilation and ancillary offences	7 years
206	Bigamy	2 to 14 years
208	Abduction for purposes of marriage or sexual connection	14 years
209	Kidnapping	14 years

Crimes against rights of property (Part 10)

Section(s) of Act	Offence	Maximum penalty (imprisonment)
220–223	Theft or stealing – by persons in special relationship – of livestock and other animals – value $1001 or more – value $501 to $1000 – value up to $500	7 years 7 years 7 years 1 year 3 months
226	Conversion of vehicle or other conveyance	7 years
231	Burglary	10 years
231A	Entry onto agricultural land with intent to commit imprisonable offence	10 years
234	Robbery	10 years
243	Money laundering	5 to 7 years
250	Damaging or interfering with computer system	7 to 10 years
256	Forgery	3 to 10 years
266	Counterfeiting	7 years
267	Arson	7 to 14 years

Threatening, conspiring, and attempting to commit offences (Part 11)

Section(s) of Act	Offence	Maximum penalty (imprisonment)
306	Threatening to kill or do grievous bodily harm	7 years
310	Conspiring to commit offence (where not explicitly stated elsewhere)	7 years or the maximum imprisonment for the crime, whichever is less
312	Accessory after the fact to crime (where not explicitly stated elsewhere) – to crimes punishable by life imprisonment – to all other crimes	7 years 5 years or half the maximum imprisonment for the crime, whichever is less