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Nature and Purpose Of Criminal Law



Law -    
          The term 'law' which comes from old English word ' lagu ' means 'something laid down or fixed '. The term 'legal'which comes from Latin word 'legalis'or lex means law. The term 'statute'is a system of rules usually enforced through a set of institutions. The purpose of law is to provide an objective set of rules for governing conduct and maintaining order in a society. The oldest known codified law is the code of Hammurabi, dating back to about 1754 BC. The preface directly credits the laws to the code of Hammurabi of Ur. In different parts of the world, law could be established by philosophers or religion. In modern world,  laws are typically created and enforced by governments. These codified laws many coexist with or contradict other forms of social control, such as religious proscriptions, professional rules and ethics, or the cultural mores and customes of a society.

Criminal Law -  
                        Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety and moral welfare of people. Most criminal law established  by statue,which is to say that the laws are enacted by a legislature. It includes the punishment of people who violate these laws. Criminal law varies according to jurisdiction, and differs from civil law, where emphasis is more on dispute resolution and victim compensation than on punishment.

Criminal law is defined as a body of specific and definite rules regarding human conduct and behavior which have been promulgated by political authority, which apply uniformly to all members of all classes of people which rules refer to and are enforced by punishment administered by the state. 

The origin of criminal law is due to the conflict of interests in different groups. When a crime was committed, the society took action against the person committing it and made certain regulations to prevent the repetition of the  Same.

Objectives of Criminal Law -  
                                                         Criminal law is distinctive for the uniquely serious potential consequence or sanctions for failure to abide by its rules. Every crime is composed of Criminal elements . Capital punishment may be imposed in some jurisdiction for the most serious crimes . Five objectives are widely accepted for enforcement of the criminal law by punishment : 1. Retribution, 2. Deterrence 3. Incapacitation, 4. Rehabilitation and 5. Restoration. Jurisdiction differ on the value to be placed on each.

1. Retribution - 
                                Criminals ought to Be punished in some way.  This is the most widely seen goal. Criminals have taken improper advantage, or inflicted unfair detriment , upon others and consequently, the criminal law will put criminals at some unpleasant disadvantage to ''balance the scales''. People submit to the law to receive the right not to be murdered and if people contravene these laws, they surrender the rights granted to them by the law. 

2. Deterrence -  
                             Individual deterrence is aimed toward the specific offender. The aim is to imposed a sufficient penalty to discourage the offender from criminal behavior. General deterrence aims at society at large. By imposing a penalty on those who commit offences, other individuals are discouraged from committing those offences.

3. Incapacitation - 
                                   Designed simply to keep  criminals away from society so that the public is protected from their misconduct. This is often achieved through prison sentence today. The death penalty or banishment have served the same purpose. 

4. Rehabilitation - 
                                   Aims at transforming an offender into a valuable member of society.  It's primary goal is to prevent further offence by convincing the offender that their conduct was wrong.

5. Restoration - 
                              This is a victim oriented theory of punishment. The goal is to repair, through state authority, and injury inflicted upon the victim by the offender.





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