ACCESSORY, a person concerned in the commission of a felonious offence, not as principal, but by participation; as by ad vice, command, aid or concealment. In certain crimes there can be no accessories, all concerned being principals, whether present or absent at the time of their commission. There is no accessory to misdemeanour.
There are two kinds of accessories—before the fact and after it. The first is he who commands or procures another to commit felony and is not present himself ; for if he be present he is an abettor (q.v.). The second is he who, knowing a man has com mitted a felony, receives, harbours or assists him. An accessory before the fact is liable to the same punishment as the principal; and there is now indeed no practical difference between such an accessory and a principal in regard either to indictment, trial or punishment. Accessories after the fact are in general punishable with imprisonment (with or without hard labour) for a period not exceeding two years. (See the Accessories and Abettors Act 1860