Criminal Law is the body of law that applies to criminal acts. When an individual fails in adherence to a particular unlawful decree, then that person commits a criminal offense by breaking the prevailing Law. Criminal Law is different from civil law because the criminal Law will cost an individual of his rights and may further lead to imprisonment. On the contrary, civil laws only relate to resolutions that involve legal controversies and money damages. There are many theories for which we have a system of Criminal Law. These mainly include to diminish crime, to reform the culprit, providing reprisal for the act, and to prevent future crimes. Criminal Law is considered to be the only device by which organic societies protect an individual’s interest and later ensuring the survival of the herd. Criminal procedure is an official activity that analyses the work of a crime and then authorizes punishing treatment to the one accused. The development of the state judiciary system emerged in the 18th century in European countries, and from that point onwards criminal law was formalized.
Objectives of Criminal Law:
Criminal Justice can be referred to as those agencies working on Government’s behalf are charged with the implementation of Law, advocate crime, and correcting criminal offense. The criminal justice system plays an essential part in controlling society. Our society considers some actions and behaviors so dangerous and at the same time often destructive that it tries to control by strict guidelines or to take help of the judiciary system by outlawing them outright. It is solely the responsibility of those agencies to prevent any destructive measures by capturing and punishing them so as to deter their future happenings. Our society maintains equilibrium in society by controlling people with some moral values, which is not effective for people supporting violence. For them, only a criminal judiciary system can control and punish them. So, the main objectives of a criminal justice arrangement are-
To prevent the very occurrence of a crime. To punish the criminals. To reintegrate criminals. To arrange compensation to the victims. To provide Law and order in society. To prevent offenders from performing any criminal activities in the future.
Types of Criminal Law:
There are broadly two types of criminal Law –
Misdemeanor crimes: It is an offense of a lower level that involves minor assaults, petty thefts, and traffic rules violation. In most states, the penalty for such crimes is imprisonment of one year or less.
Felony crimes: This type of crime involves many serious offenses. Some examples are murder, drug dealing, manslaughter, rape, ransom, and robbery. Everywhere there is a penalty of one or more than one year depending on the nature of the crime the individual had committed and also the jurisdiction of that area. Adding to it, the body of criminal laws varies from state to state. There is also a federal criminal law that applies to every state.
Parts of Criminal Law Statutes:
All criminal law statutes consist of two parts. If one is associated with a murder, it is obvious that the individual committing the crime intends to engage in the act.
The other part of the criminal statute is referred to as actus reus’. This portion refers to actions taken by an executioner. A perfect example would be in a drug-dealing case, in order to charge the executioner with drug dealing crime, the executioner must have sold the drugs first. This action is required for actus reus’.
Prosecution of Crimes:
In order for a conviction of a crime, a prosecutor or in such cases a criminal lawyer has to show that the convicted had met both elements. It will not be enough for a prosecutor to suggest that the convict committed a crime. The prosecutor needs to prove every aspect of a crime which can extend beyond a reasonable doubt in order to get the defendant convicted of criminal activity. This is because every individual has got some constitutional rights that the Governing authorities must respect.