Arson

Arson is a legal term generally used to describe an unlawful act of deliberately or recklessly setting fire to property, be that to one’s own property or that of another person. Although the general consensus is that an act of arson involves setting fire to property, the specific common law elements for an arson offense vary across jurisdictions. For example, some jurisdictions require a dwelling to have been set fire to for an arson offense to be brought to court. Other jurisdictions have different degrees of arson dependent on the severity of the harm caused (e.g., whether the building was occupied or not, whether a person was harmed or killed as a result of the fire, or whether there was intent or recklessness as to ...