Understanding the Basics of Criminal Law

There are five different types of law. The five types of law are criminal, civil, administrative, case and procedural law. In this article I will be discussing the basics and importance of criminal law. There are significant differences between the various types of law. It is important for anyone with an interest or working within the criminal justice field to understand the terminology and the meanings of the words.

Criminal law is based upon the Constitution of the United States and is based within the criminal justice system. The criminal justice system is based upon statutory and case law. Statutory law is based upon legislation which has passed and ideals which create our laws. Case law or the written form of law is also known as penal code. Written law is broken down into two different types. These types are identified as substantive and procedural. Substantive law deals directly with the nature of the crime, how to deal with and appropriate punishments. Procedural law deals with the details such as the acceptable procedures of dealing with those who have broken the substantive law primarily within the judicial sense.

Criminal law is also sometimes referred to as penal law. Criminal law can be defined as the criminal justice system which deals with crimes or offenses against society, property and social order. The premise of law acts upon the basis that when criminal acts are committed, they are offenses against society as a whole, not just one individual. This is why criminal actions are punished in the public, because they are a sense a crime against society and therefore must face punishment in the same mannerism. We enforce our laws and impose punishment upon criminals to show our disappointment as a society, and to hold true that we as a society will not tolerate criminal behavior against our citizens and innocent persons.

Theory tells us that as a public order, we have the right to deem what acts are reprehensible and worthy of punishment. Yet we must also have a consensus regarding the regulation of laws and even punishments. In order to define what crimes are punishable, we have established laws or the penal code.

Punishment is justified by lawmakers, law enforcement officers and public citizens with the intent that the criminal who has committed a crime intended to cause harm against society, not just one or two individuals. Due to the way in which are laws are written, when criminal cases are brought forth into the State level, the defendant or criminal will be charged by the State for committing a crime against the citizens and persons of that said State.

To further clarify, instead of the actual victim being listed as the plaintiff in the proceedings, the State of origin will replace the individual victim in the case.