Rioting and affray
Define rioting and affray. Explain the difference between the two.
Introduction
Under the Pakistan penal code, there are different terms which are being used for public violence and private violence. One of them is rioting, which means when three or more persons have the mutual intention to commit a crime or commit a breach of peace by the use of force and the common object of the group is to obtain something unlawfully from others. The 2nd of them is affray and affray is the fighting of two or more persons in a public place to the terror of ordinary people but the fighting ought to be with the consent of both parties
Meaning of Rioting
The word riot has been derived from the French word which means “to take part in public disturbance”
Definition of rioting
Rioting is such criminal offence where three or more persons who have the mutual intention to commit a crime by use of force and common objects of the group is to attain something unlawfully from others
Meaning of Affray
The word Affray has been derived from the French word “effrayer” which means “to affright”
Definition of affray
Affray is such a criminal offence when two or more persons are fighting in a public place with their mutual consent to threaten ordinary people
Essentials of rioting
The following are the essential elements of rioting. Details are as under
Force
Under the Pakistan Penal Code, the use of force is an essential element in rioting, by using force criminal obtains property or other things from people and violates their rights which have been legally recognized
Unlawful assembly
To call an assembly an unlawful assembly there must be at least 3 or more persons who have a common intention But in this case, it is the responsibility of the injured person that he should prove that there was an unlawful assembly consisting of at least three persons
Common object
The object must be common to the persons who have assembled this unlawful group. If the object will be common at the time of occurrence of the crime then it will be called an unlawful assembly. Even if the common object is not proved there can be no objection upon all of them by the court of law
Vicarious liability
Under the Pakistan penal code, if one person commits a crime to achieve the common object of his unlawful assembly, in this case, all of the persons who are the members of this assembly will be considered criminal and vicarious liability will be imposed upon all of them
Essential of affray
The following are the essential elements of rioting. Details are as under
Number of people
Under the Pakistan Penal Code, to call an offence an affray, there should be shown two or more persons who were involved in fighting and in disturbance to public peace
The fight between such persons
Under the Pakistan Penal Code, to call an offence an affray, there should be shown the element of fighting between the people which is with their mutual consent
The fight must be at a public place
Under the Pakistan Penal Code, to call an offence an affray, there should be a fight between the people but a public place
Disturbance of public peace
Under the Pakistan Penal Code, to call an offence an affray, there should be an element of terror to the public, The purpose of this fight should be terror to the people with the mutual consent of the fighting parties
Punishments for rioting
Following are the punishments for those members, who commit riot with deadly weapons or anything which is used as a weapon can cause the death of anyone,
- Imprisonment can be extended up to three years
- Fine
- Both
Punishments for affray
Following are the punishments for those members, who commit affray
- Imprisonment can be extended up to one month
- Fine which can be extended up to 3000 thousand
- Both
Difference between Rioting and affray
Following are the differences between rioting and affraying. Details are as under.
As to place
Rioting is the type of fight and parties commit riot at a private place
Affray is the type of fight and parties commit affray a public place
As to assembly
A riot can only be committed when 3 persons involved
Affray can only be committed when 2 people involved
As to violence
Riot is violence, which violence against the rights of people
Affray is not violence; its purpose is to terrorise the people
As to liability
In a riot, strict liability can be imposed upon all members
In affray, only fighters will be considered as criminal
As to object
In a riot, there is the common object of the members to attain something by force
In affray, there is no common object of the members
As to punishment
In a riot, the punishment for the accused can be up to 3 years, a fine or both
In affray, punishment for the accused can be up to one month, a fine or both
As to nature
Riot is real and has an object
An affray is dramatic and has no specific object
Conclusion
A riot is such criminal activity which is being performed by three or more people to obtain something unlawfully. But affray is such criminal activity which is being performed by the two at a public place to threaten the viewers and it is also a criminal activity and punishable under the criminal act