Criminal law

Criminal law is a set of rules that helps keep people safe and their belongings protected. It talks about actions that can hurt others, damage things, or make people feel unsafe. When someone breaks these rules, there are ways to deal with it, like punishment or helping them change their behavior.

Most of these rules are written down as laws by groups of people called legislatures. These laws can be different in different places, which we call jurisdictions. For example, what is considered wrong in one place might not be in another.

Criminal law is different from civil law. Civil law is more about solving disagreements or helping people get money if they’ve been treated unfairly. Criminal law focuses more on making sure people who break the rules face consequences or get the help they need to do better in the future. There are special processes, called criminal procedures, to make sure that when someone is accused of a crime, everything is done fairly and correctly.

History

The first civilizations did not always separate rules about harm to people from other kinds of laws. Early written laws were created by the Sumerians. One important early set of laws is the Code of Ur-Nammu, made by a king named Ur-Nammu. Another well-known set of laws is the Code of Hammurabi, which guided life in Babylon.

In Roman law, early rules about harming others were mixed with other laws. Later, during the Middle Ages, European countries started to separate rules about crimes from other kinds of laws. This helped shape the way we think about crime today.

Objectives of criminal law

Criminal law deals with actions that are considered harmful or dangerous to people and their property. When someone breaks these laws, there can be serious consequences, such as being sent to prison, paying money, or other punishments depending on where they live.

The main reasons for having criminal laws are to punish wrongdoers, prevent crime, protect society, help people change their behavior, and make things right for victims. Some places might use different methods or place different importance on these reasons. For example, punishment can help balance out the harm done, while sending people to prison keeps them away from others. Helping offenders understand their mistakes aims to prevent future crimes, and making restitution helps fix the harm caused to victims.

Selected criminal laws

Many laws are enforced by the threat of punishment, and the punishment can vary depending on where you live. Criminal law covers a wide range of topics, so it is hard to list them all. Here are some common parts of criminal law.

Elements

Main article: Element (criminal law)

Criminal law usually stops bad actions. To prove a crime happened, you need to show that something was done. Experts call this the need for an actus reus or guilty act. Some crimes, especially newer rules about rules and safety, only need this. But because crimes can have serious results, judges also look for proof that the person meant to do something bad, called mens rea or guilty mind. For many crimes, both a guilty act and a guilty mind must be shown at the same time.

Actus reus

Main article: Actus reus

Actus reus means "guilty act" in Latin. It is the part of a crime that you can see or touch. This can be doing something, threatening to do something, or even not doing something when you should. For example, hitting someone or a parent not giving food to a young child can be an actus reus.

If not doing something is the actus reus, there must be a duty to act. This duty can come from agreements, promises, family ties, or a job. It can also come from making a dangerous situation. However, in some places, turning off life support for someone who cannot get better is not considered a crime because it is done to help the person.

An actus reus can be undone if there is no causation. For example, if harming someone, their action must be the direct cause of the harm. If more than one person causes harm, the action still counts if it helped cause the harm.

Mens rea

Main article: Mens rea

Mens rea means "guilty mind" in Latin. It is the thinking part of a crime. It means wanting to do something wrong. Wanting to do something bad is different from why you do it, called motive.

A lower level of mens rea is when someone knows an act is dangerous but does it anyway. This is called recklessness. It is what the person was thinking when they did the actus reus. For example, if someone takes apart a gas meter to get money and knows gas will leak into a neighbor's house, they could be responsible for poisoning.

Courts look at whether the person knew the danger or should have known about the risk. Sometimes, just not seeing the danger can be enough to say there was no intent. The importance of mens rea has changed in some crime areas but is still a big part of the system.

The seriousness of an intent can change how bad the crime is and maybe reduce the punishment. Killing someone on purpose to cause death or serious harm is murder. Killing someone through reckless actions without this purpose could be manslaughter. It does not matter who gets hurt by someone's actions. If someone means to hurt one person but hurts another, the intent moves to the person who was actually hurt.

Strict liability

Main article: Strict liability (criminal)

Strict liability means being responsible for a crime even without a guilty mind. Not all crimes need a specific intent, and the need for being careful can be less or removed. For example, it might be enough to show someone was careless, instead of on purpose or reckless. In crimes with absolute liability, only the act needs to be shown, not that it was on purpose. Usually, crimes need an intentional act, and "intent" must be shown to find a crime happened. The idea of a "strict liability crime" seems wrong. The few examples are not really crimes but rules and civil penalties made by law, like traffic or road rules.

Fatal offenses

Main articles: Murder and Culpable homicide

Murder, simply put, is unlawful killing. Unlawful killing is one of the most common things criminal law targets. In many places, murder is divided into different levels of seriousness, for example, murder in the first degree, based on intent. Malice is needed for murder. Manslaughter (called Culpable Homicide in Scotland) is a less serious type of killing without malice, because of reasons like being provoked or not thinking clearly. Involuntary manslaughter, when it exists, is killing without much guilty intent, just recklessness.

Settled insanity can be a defense.

Personal offenses

Main articles: Assault, Battery (crime), Rape, and Sexual abuse

Many laws protect a person's body. The crime of battery is usually understood as unlawful touching, but this does not include small bumps people agree to in crowds. Making someone fear they will be touched unlawfully is assault and can also be a crime. Having sex without agreement, or rape, is a very serious type of battery.

Property offenses

Main articles: Criminal damage, Criminal trespass, Theft, Robbery, Extortion, Dacoity, Burglary, and Fraud

Property is often protected by criminal law. Trespassing is entering someone else's land without permission. Many laws punish conversion, embezzlement, and theft, which take away the value of property. Robbery is stealing using force. Other property crimes include destroying or damaging property like arson, which is purposely or recklessly burning a building down, and vandalism, which is deliberately damaging something. Fraud in the UK is breaking the Fraud Act 2006 by lying, not sharing information, or misusing a position.

Criminal law jurisdictions

Jurisdictions in criminal law refer to the authority of courts to enforce laws and decide where trials can happen. This includes deciding who can be tried and for what crimes. There are different types of jurisdictions, such as territorial jurisdiction (which depends on where the crime happened), and extraterritorial jurisdiction (where a country can try crimes outside its borders if they affect its safety).

Public international law also deals with very serious crimes that affect many people or whole regions. The Nuremberg trials after the Second World War were an important moment in international criminal law. These trials showed that even leaders can be tried for serious crimes like genocide, no matter what country they are from.

Main articles: Crimes against humanity and United States and the International Criminal Court