Amount of punishment is always awarded on basis of participation in crime.

1. Adv. Vijay Jayshwal
Kathmandu University School of Law
Parties to the Crime

2. Introduction
 The criminal law in various jurisdictions makes distinctions
among persons who are participes criminis in respect of crimes,
whether as principals or accessories.
 The common law recognized degrees of criminal participation.
 Under that system, and in some states today, an individual may
be charged as a principal in the first degree, principal in the
second degree, accessory before the fact, or accessory after the
fact.
 The reason why degrees of principals and accessories were
permitted under the common law, and in some modern
jurisdictions, is an attempt to soften penalties for persons not
actually or directly involved in the crime itself.

3.  Parties to the crime are those persons who are directly or
indirectly involved in the commission of the crime.
 The degree of participation will amount the degree of
punishment.
 An accessory to a crime is a person who participates
knowingly and voluntarily in the commission of a crime.
 An accessory can be categorized as before or after the fact
(the commission of the crime).
 They need not be actually present at the scene of
the crime in order to be held liable.

4. 3 categories of Accessories
 Accessories before the fact
 Accessories at the fact
 Accessories after the fact

5. Illustrations
 Supreme Court of North Carolina divided four parties to homicide
cases:
"The parties to a homicide are:
(I) principals in the first degree, being those whose unlawful acts or
omissions cause the death of the victim, without the intervention of any
responsible agent;
(2) principals in the second degree, being those who are actually or
constructively present at the scene of the crime, aiding and abetting
therein, but not directly causing the death;
(3) accessories before the fact, being those who have conspired with the
actual perpetrator to commit the homicide, or some other unlawful act
that would naturally result in a homicide, or who have procured,
instigated, encouraged, or advised him to commit it, but who were
neither actually nor constructively present when it was committed; and
(4) accessories after the fact, being those who, after the commission of
the homicide, knowingly aid the escape of a party thereto.

6.  In felony:
(a) Perpetrators are principals in the first degree;
(b) Abettors are principals in the second degree;
(c) Inciters are accessories before the fact;
(d) Criminal protectors are accessories after the fact.

7.  In misdemeanors:
(a) Perpetrators, abettors and inciters are all principals,
because the law "does not descend to distinguish the
different shades of guilt in petty misdemeanors.“
"The distinction between principals in the first and
second degrees is a distinction without a difference"
except in those rare instances in which some unusual
statute has provided a different penalty for one of
these than for the other.'
"A principal in the first degree is the immediate
perpetrator of the crime while a principal in the
second degree is one who did not commit the crime
with his own hands but was present aiding and
abetting the principal.

8. Accessories before the fact
 Those persons who are not part of conspiracy but who help in the
commission of the crime are accessories before the fact.
 In murder case, if anybody supplies or sells weapon or poison
with knowledge that it is being used against human being, s/he is
liable as accessory to the crime.
 Supplying materials or vehicle with knowledge that it is being
used in theft.
 One’s premises to be used for drug consumption or run brothels
center etc.
 Many jurisdictions refer to an accessory before the fact as an
accomplice.
 A person who aids, abets, or encourages another to commit a
crime but who is not present at the scene.
 Section 36 (2) of MCCA 2074, helping any person with intention
for commission of crime.

9.  Standefer v. United States, 447 U.S. 10 (1980)
Petitioner was indicted for, inter alia, aiding and abetting
a named Internal Revenue Service agent in accepting
unlawful compensation, in violation of 26 U.S.C. §
7214(a)(2) and 18 U.S.C. § 2, which provides that
whoever commits an offense against the United States
or aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or
procures its commission, is punishable as a principal.

10. Case law
 Dilmaya Upadhya v HMG ( NKP 2035,p.141)-
Poison case- court acquits on ground of lack of
reliable evidence for conviction.
 Damber Bdr Chaulagai v HMG ( NKP 2034,
p.304)- gambling case

11. Accessories at the fact
 Persons who are present at scene if crime with a view
to help the perpetrator are termed as accessories at the
act.
 These person have direct and indirect nexus with the
crime.
Armed with weapons
Encircling
Direct or indirect helping
Not going for help
 Section 36 (1), (2) of MCCA 2074.

12. Case law
 HMG v Dilli Bdr etal (NKP 2024,p.74)- case of
homicide and abettor.
 Yubraj Koirlal v HMG ( NKP 2041,p.388)- Illicit
relationship case
 HMG v Mani Kumari Panthi (NKP 2042,p.582)-
Abortion case
 Badur alias Deepak Singh Thakur v HMG (NKP
2042,p.941)- Murder of child

13. Accessories after the fact
 The accessory after the fact is one who, with
knowledge of the other's guilt, renders assistance to
a felon in the effort to hinder his detection, arrest,
trial or punishment.
 There are four requisites:
(1) A felony must have been committed by another,
and it must have been completed prior to the act of
accessoryship
(2) The accessory must not himself be guilty of that
felony as a principal;
(3) He must do some act to assist the felon personally
in his effort to avoid the consequences of his crime;
and
(4) This assistance must be rendered with guilty

14.  Persons who are not involved in conspiracy may
get involved the other way in the concealment of
the crime. Such person’s act may be connected
with absconding the offender, cremating the dead
body, receiving or dealing with the stolen goods
or eliminating the evidences.
 The degree of act is minimum, the amount of
punishment awarded to them is also minimum.
 Sec 36 (2) of the MCCA 2074.

15. Thank you