Psychic assault

Psychic assault is a term used by academic legal writers as a synonym for assault (or common assault) in order to distinguish that offence from the related crime of battery and so avoid confusion. The need for this term arises from the fact that the word assault is frequently used to refer collectively both to that offence and to battery.

The word 'psychic' is used to denote the fact that the actus reus of the offence that is correctly described as assault consists of affecting the mind of the other person (whereas battery consists of the application of force).

References

Glanville Williams. Textbook of Criminal Law. Second Edition. 1983. Page 173.
R v Kerr [1988] 1 New Zealand Law Reports 270 at 273; [1987] NZCA 142; (1987) 2 CRNZ 407, Court of Appeal of New Zealand NZLII
Claire de Than and Russell Heaton. Criminal Law. Third Edition. Oxford University Press. 2013. pp 90 & 91 et seq.
Horder, "Reconsidering Psychic Assault" [1998] Crim LR 392

Types of crime

Note: Crimes vary by jurisdiction. Not all types are listed here.

Classes	Infraction Misdemeanor Felony Summary Indictable Hybrid

Against the person	Assault Battery Extortion Harassment Kidnapping Identity theft Manslaughter corporate Murder Rape Robbery Sexual assault

Against property	Arson Blackmail Burglary Deception Embezzlement False pretenses Fraud Handling Larceny Theft Vandalism

Against public order	Drug possession Public order Breach of the peace

Against the state	Tax evasion Espionage Treason High treason

Against justice	Bribery Misprision of felony Obstruction Perjury Malfeasance in office

Inchoate offenses	Accessory Attempt Conspiracy Incitement Encouraging or assisting a crime Solicitation Common purpose

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