Criminal law (2022): Crimes against property: Larceny (Part 1)

Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offense under the common law of England and became an offense in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of England into their own law (also statutory law), where in many cases it remains in force.

The crime of larceny has been abolished in England, Wales, Ireland, and Northern Ireland, broken up into the specific crimes of burglary, robbery, fraud, theft, and related crimes. However, larceny remains an offense in parts of the United States, Jersey, and in New South Wales, Australia, involving the taking (caption) and carrying away (asportation) of personal property without the owner's consent.

By nation.

United Kingdom.

United States.

Larceny laws in the United States have their roots in common law, pursuant to which larceny involves the trespassory taking (caption) and carrying away (asportation, removal) of the tangible personal property of another with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of its possession. Larceny is now codified as a statutory crime in all U.S. jurisdictions.

Under many states' larceny statutes, including California, larceny can include the taking of "money, labor, or real or personal property."

England and Wales.

The common law offense of larceny was codified by the Larceny Act 1916. It was abolished on 1 January 1969, for all purposes not relating to offenses committed before that date. It has been replaced by the broader offense of theft under section 1(1) of the Theft Act 1968. This offense did incorporate some of the terminology and substance of larceny. Despite the offense being abolished in England, it has been retained in the Crown Dependency of Jersey.

 

Elements.

Possession versus custody.

Larceny is a crime against possession. Furthermore, it has two elements which must be met: the actual taking of the property, even if momentarily (actus reus), and the culpable intent to deprive another of their property (mens rea). Larceny involves the trespassory taking of property from possession of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of that property.  To understand larceny, one must understand the distinction between custody and possession.

A person has possession of property when he has actual physical control over the property (actual possession) or he has the right to exercise considerable control over the disposition or use of the property (constructive possession).

A person has custody if he has actual physical control of the property, but the person who has constructive possession has substantially restricted the custodian's right to use the property.

Examples of custody would be a store customer examining the goods of a merchant, or an employee who has been given the property of his employer to be used in his employment. This is to be contrasted to, for example, a person who has obtained actual possession of the property by fraud.

Ancient Roman law (first 50 years of written University law, possibly borrowing from Greek law there is no copy of) was laxer about "simple possession"; it was assumed "borrowing" if there was no one to ask: unless or until other factors arose (such as refusal to return promptly when asked).