§701-103 Purposes of this Code. The
purposes of this Code are to codify the general principles of the penal law and
to define and codify certain specific offenses which constitute harms to basic
social interests which the Code seeks to protect. [L 1972, c 9, pt of §1]
COMMENTARY ON §701-103
This section states the general purposes of the Code which
are twofold. First, the Code defines the general principles of the penal law,
including those principles relating to liability, justification,
responsibility, inchoate behavior, and disposition of convicted defendants.
Many of these basic principles are not presently defined in the statutory law
and depend, for recognition and development, on decisional law. Secondly, the
Code undertakes to codify a major portion of the penal law by defining and
codifying the bulk of those specific offenses which constitute harms to social
interests which the law in general and this Code in particular seek to
protect: i.e., offenses against the person, property rights, the family and
incompetents, public administration, public order, and public health and
morals. In this respect the purpose of the Code is not different than that of
existing law; however, the Code, unlike present law, reflects this purpose in
its organization: the definition of offenses in chapters 707 through 712 are
arranged according to the social interest offended, rather than in a somewhat
alphabetical fashion as was the case in the former Title 38, now repealed.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
6
cases, 1985–2006 · leading case:
State v. Arceo, 928 P.2d 843 (Haw. 1996).
State v. Arceo, 928 P.2d 843 (Haw. 1996).
· cites it 4× “" HRS § 701-103 (1993). The provisions of [the HPC] cannot be extended by analogy so as to create crimes not provided for [t]herein; however, in order to promote justice and effect the objects of the law, all of its provisions shall be given a genuine construction, according to…”
State v. Kalama, 8 P.3d 1224 (Haw. 2000).
· cites it 4× “[8] In this respect, the commentary to HRS § 701-103 (1993) states that a purpose of the HPC is to "[codify] specific offenses which constitute harms to social interests which the law in general and this Code in particular seek to protect: i.”
State v. Carmichael, 53 P.3d 214 (Haw. 2002).
· cites it 4× “" Commentary on HRS § 701-103. In that connection, this court, in Vance , indicated that a charge under HRS § 712-1243 involving "possession of a microscopic trace of a dangerous drug" may be subject to dismissal under HRS § 702-236 as "not actually caus[ing] or threaten[ing]…”
Marsland v. Pang, 701 P.2d 175 (Haw. App. 1985).
· cites it 2× “See Commentary on HRS § 701-102 (1976); see also HRS § 701-103 (1976); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 821B comment c (1979).”
State v. Stan's Contracting, Inc., 137 P.3d 331 (Haw. 2006).
“HRS § 701-104 requires that construction of the penal code be “with reference to the purpose of the provision,” an obligation reinforced by the commentary to HRS § 701-104, which states that “[t]his section, read in conjunction with § 701-103, is intended to assure that this…”
State v. Maumalanga, 976 P.2d 410 (Haw. App. 1998).
· cites it 2× “) Thus, HRS § 701-104, "read in conjunction with § 701-103 [(purposes of this Code)], is intended to assure that this Code will be construed by the courts in such a way as to effectuate the declared purposes of the law.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.