Criminal LAWS

Criminal law refers to a body of laws that apply to criminal acts. In instances where an individual fails to adhere to a particular criminal statute, he or she commits a criminal act by breaking the law. This body of law is different from civil law, because criminal law penalties involve the forfeiture of one's rights and imprisonment. Conversely, civil laws relate to the resolution of legal controversies and involve monetary damages.

There are various theories for why we have a criminal law system. Neither theory is exclusive or dispositive. The main theories for criminal law include: to deter crime, to reform the perpetrator, to provide retribution for the act, and to prevent further crimes. There is much discussion regarding these theories of criminal law and which policy is best promoted by the body of criminal law.

Parts of criminal law statutes:-

All criminal law statutes contain two distinct parts. The first of these parts is the mensrea, which is the mental state that one must possess when committing a crime. For example, if one commits murder, it is necessary that the party committing the murder intended to engage in the act. This intention is the mensrea of the crime of murder.

The other part of a criminal statute is the actusreus. This portion of the criminal statute refers to the action taken by the perpetrator. For instance, in a drug dealing case, in order to charge the perpetrator with the crime of drug dealing, the perpetrator must have actually sold the drugs. This is the action required for the criminal statute's actusreus to exist.