3.4 Actio Personalis Moritur Cum Persona

Criminal liability is personal and non-transmissible — the prosecution abates at the accused's death; heirs are not punished. The exceptions: fines already imposed recoverable in defined circumstances; the victims' civil-and-compensation claims surviving against the estate — the PUNISHMENT dies, the CIVIL consequences do not. The doctrine's deeper point: punishment as censure of THIS person's choice — contrast the civil estate (which inherits debts). Worked illustration: A dies pending his murder appeal — the prosecution abates, the conviction's further proceedings end; but the victim's family's compensation claim (the court's compensatory power) and the civil suit survive against A's estate — the two tracks again. The leading case: Mayashwori Damini, NKP (2037 B.S.), No. 11, p. 261 — the actus personalis doctrine in Nepali jurisprudence.