A Critical Analysis Of Overlapping Offences In Special And General Legislation: Determining Prevalence And Hierarchy
- IJLLR Journal
- Jan 20
- 2 min read
Nidhi B, Christ (Deemed to be) University
ABSTRACT
The primary aim of this study, “A Critical Analysis of Overlapping Offenses in Special and General Legislation: Determining Prevalence and Hierarchy,” is to analyse the special legislations in India, namely the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and other pertinent laws. Significant changes and difficulties are introduced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita as it attempts to modernize the criminal justice system and replace the Indian Penal Code, especially where it intersects with current special legislation. The essay, therefore, focuses on the issue of how different legislations coexist and conflict while, in the process, examining the problems created by the overlaps mentioned above and their legal implications. The research work consequently looks into recent legal developments and their operational impacts with the objective of giving a broad comprehensively clear overview concerning the hierarchy and prevalence of special over general laws vis-à- vis evolving judicial areas in India.
The central legal question addressed in this paper is how a special statute can override a general law, even when the general law has been in existence before the special statute and has been enacted after thorough legislative consideration, solely because of the legal maxim Generalia Specialibus Non Derogant (“general laws do not derogate from special laws”)1. This is a fundamental matter that raises basic concerns as to the thinking behind granting precedence to special legislation over general laws, when the latter are more representative and created through a specific and often elaborate process of legislation2. In order to ensure that special laws have their intended emphasis and relevance even in the context of pre-existing general laws, the paper examines how this principle is utilized in legislative interpretation and judicial practice.
