Arson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Arson - Essay Example was also pointed out that fires which were caused due to arson did not necessarily cause a permanent destruction of a structure rather it involved the slightest impacts of structure caused by fire. Back then, the magnitude of fire to a structure was determined by the presence of charring making other impacts like blackening not to be considered as an act of arson. Things like detonations were not considered acts of arson as the act was considered the end result of the products which resulted from the fire itself. Moreover, arson in historical common law also included burning materials which were within a structure as they were considered as part of the structure itself. This excludes personal property as it was not included in the common law of arson since chances of an individual suffering a loss caused by others was limited. Individuals who lost their personal property through burning had no one to lay their blame on; thus stomached their losses individually. For an act of arson to occur, it was required that the burning act should be accompanied by more than one actions hence finding an individual to be liable for the punishment. It emphasized that the act in question was to involve a house or any place which was used by individuals to serve the same purpose as a dwelling place. A dwelling in arson common law was considered as places known by the public to exist therefore a place which was viewed by individuals to have the potential of providing shelter to an individual. In addition, dwellings did not have to be places which currently contained individuals but even those who were currently not being inhabited by individuals. Places which were considered to be illegal but were inhabited by individuals were considered under the arson common law in cases where the crime was perpetrated (Carlan, Nored & Downey, 2011). Arson in historical common law assumed that the act of fire was something which occurred from natural causes and not manmade. This automatically