The nature of criminal law

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 428.

Criminal law

Criminal law is a very broad and complex subject. This complexity relates to the nature of crime. Criminal acts vary in seriousness; the same act may be a criminal offence in one country and not in another. Equally, the same act can be both a criminal offence and a civil wrong. This gives rise to several questions. For instance, what is a crime and how do you know whether given conduct is or is not a crime? Unfortunately no such definition has ever, or is ever likely to be found. The best can be offered to say is that a criminal offence is a conduct which may be followed by criminal proceedings and sentence. So the difference lies not in the nature of the act but in the legal consequences which follow it.

Criminal law tends to represent society's attitude towards conduct. The question of what acts can be followed by criminal proceedings can only be answered by reference to the law as laid down by the legislature of the country.

According to another definition, crime is considered such because it consists in wrongdoing which directly and in serious degree threatens the society and well-being of society, and because it is not safe to leave it repressable only by compensation of the injured party.

Thus, to seek for any common, distinguishing feature and through this a single definition of crime is an impossible task.