What Is Criminal Law?

Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of law that punishes criminals for committing offences against the state. The goal of this process is that of achieving criminal justice.

According to criminal law, crimes are offences against the social order. In common law jurisdictions, there is a legal fiction that crimes disturb the peace of the sovereign. Government officials, as agents of the sovereign, are responsible for the prosecution of offenders. Hence, the criminal law "plaintiff" is the sovereign, which in practical terms translates into the monarch or the people.

The major objective of criminal law is deterrence and punishment, while that of civil law is individual compensation. Criminal offences consist of two distinct elements; the physical act (the actus reus, guilty act) and the requisite mental state with which the act is done (the mens rea, guilty mind). For example, in murder the 'actus reus is the unlawful killing of a person, while the 'mens rea is malice aforethought (the intention to kill or cause grievous injury). The criminal law also details the defenses that defendants may bring to lessen or negate their liability (criminal responsibility) and specifies the punishment which may be inflicted. Criminal law neither requires a victim, nor a victim's consent, to prosecute an offender. Furthermore, a criminal prosecution can occur over the objections of the victim and the consent of the victim is not a defense in most crimes.

Criminal law in most jurisdictions both in the common and civil law traditions is divided into two fields:

* Criminal procedure regulates the process for addressing violations of criminal law
* Substantive criminal law details the definition of, and punishments for, various crimes.

Criminal law distinguishes crimes from civil wrongs such as tort or breach of contract. Criminal law has been seen as a system of regulating the behavior of individuals and groups in relation to societal norms at large whereas civil law is aimed primarily at the relationship between private individuals and their rights and obligations under the law. Although many ancient legal systems did not clearly define a distinction between criminal and civil law, in England there was little difference until the codification of criminal law occurred in the late nineteenth century. In most U.S. law schools, the basic course in criminal law is based upon the English common criminal law of 1750 (with some minor American modifications like the clarification of mens rea in the Model Penal Code).

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Criminal Law News

• Sex Criminal Challenges Registry Law Louisville CourierJournal
A man convicted of sex crimes against a child is challenging the constitutionality of a state law that retroactively broadened Indianas sex offender registry.
• Pop Quiz Law Order: Criminal Intent Akron Beacon Journal
Q: Will we see Law Order: Criminal Intent again We miss Bobby and Eames A: USA Network, which is now the first run home of the series, has some new episodes scheduled beginning June 8. No word yet on whether there will be a new season in the fall.
• VISTA: ITTTech To Hold Criminal Justice Day North County Times
ITT Tech to hold Criminal Justice Day VISTA ITT Technical Institute will hold a Criminal Justice Day from 10 a.m. 1 p.m. May 10 at 495 Tortuga Drive. The day will highlight ITTs new Criminal Justice Degree Program. Several law enforcement agencies will be on hand to speak with prospective and current students about the program. Call 760 630 1418.
• Protests At UC Berkeley Law School Graduation San Francisco Chronicle
Some 50 protesters, clad in orange jumpsuits and black hoods to emulate the infamous photos of prisoners in Iraq, picketed the Boalt Hall graduation today, demanding that UC Berkeleys law school fire Professor John Yoo for his reported authorship of the Bush
• Indian Law Institute Offers Researchbased Courses The Hindu
New Delhi: The Indian Law Institute ILI, a deemed university, located opposite the Supreme Court here, offers research based programmes for students. The ILI was established in 1956 to cultivate legal research, both doctrinal and

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