Criminal Law

Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It regulates social conduct and proscribes threatening, harming, or otherwise endangering the health, safety, and moral welfare of people. It includes the punishment of people who violate these laws. Criminal law differs from civil law, whose emphasis is more on dispute resolution and victim compensation than on punishment. History The first civilizations generally did not distinguish between civil law and criminal law. The first written codes of law were designed by the Sumerians. Around 2 !!!" !#! $C %r"&ammu, the &eo"Sumerian 'ing of %r, enacted the oldest written legal code whose te(t has been discovered) the Code of Ur-Nammu although an earlier code of %ru'agina of *agash is also 'nown to have e(isted. Another important early code was the Code +ammurabi, which formed the core of $abylonian law. ,nly fragments of early criminal laws of Ancient -reece have survived, e.g. those of Solon and .raco. The similarly significant Commentaries of -aius on the Twelve Tables also conflated the civil and criminal aspects, treating theft or furtum as a tort. Assault and violent robbery were analogized to trespass as to property. $reach of such laws created an obligation of law or vinculum /uris discharged by payment of monetary compensation or damages. After the revival of 0oman law in the 2th century, si(th"century 0oman classifications and /urisprudence provided the foundations of the distinction between criminal and civil law in 1uropean law from then until the present time. Objectives of criminal law Criminal law is distinctive for the uni2uely serious potential conse2uences or sanctions for failure to abide by its rules. 1very crime is composed of criminal elements. Capital punishment may be imposed in some /urisdictions for the most serious crimes. 3hysical or corporal punishment may be imposed such as whipping or canning, although these punushments are prohibited in much of the world. Individuals may be incarcerated in prison or /ail in a variety of conditions depending on the /urisdiction. Confinement may be solitary. *ength of incarceration may vary from a day to life. -overnment supervision may be imposed, including house arrest, and convicts may be re2uired to conform to particularized guidelines as part of a parole or probation regimen. 4ines also may be imposed, seizing money or property from a person convicted of a crime. 4ive ob/ectives are widely accepted for enforcement of the criminal law by punishments)retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation and restoration. 5urisdictions differ on the value to be placed on each. Retribution 6 Criminals ought to suffer in some way. This is the most widely seen goal. Criminals have ta'en improper advantage, or inflicted unfair detriment, upon others and conse2uently, the criminal law will put criminals at some unpleasant disadvantage to 7balance the scales8. 3eople submit to the law to receive the right not to be murdered and if poople contravene these laws, they surrender the rights granted to them by the law. Thus, one who murders may be e(ecuted himself. A related theory includes the idea of 7righting the balance8. Deterrence Individual deterrence is aimed toward the specific offender. The aim is to impose a sufficient penalty to discourage the offender from criminal behavior. General deterrence aims at society at large. $y imposing a penalty

on those who commit offenses, other individuals are discouraged from committing those offenses. Incapacitation 6 .esigned simply to 'eep criminals away from society so that the public is protected from their misconduct. This is often achieved through prison sentences today. The death penalty or banishment have served the same purpose. Rehabilitation 6 Aims at transforming an offender into a valuable member of society. Its primary goal is to prevent further offense by convincing the offender that their conduct was wrong. Restoration 6 This is the victim"oriented theory of punishment. The goal is to repair, through state authority, any in/ury inflicted upon the victim by the offender. 4or e(ample, one who embezzles will be re2uired to repay the amount improperly ac2uired. 0estoration is commonlycombined with other main goals of criminal /ustice and is closely related to concepts in the civil law, i.e., returning the victim to his or her original position before the in/ury.

Assault
In law, assault is a crime that involves causing a victim to apprehend violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more limited sense of a threat of violence caused by an immediate show of force. Assault in some %S /urisdictions and Scotland is defined more broadly atill as any international physical contact with another person without their consent9 but in the ma/ority of the %nited States, and in 1ngland and :ales and all other common law /urisdictions in the world, this is defined instead as battery. Some /urisdictions have incorporated the definition of civil assault into the definition of the crime ma'ing it a criminal assault to intentionally cause another person to apprehend a harmful or offensive contact.

Battery
In common law, criminal assault often accompanied battery. The elements of battery are a volitional act done for the purpose of causing a harmful or offensive contact with another person or under circumstances that ma'e such contact substantially certain to occur and which causes such contacts. Thus throwing a roc' at someone for the purpose of hitting him is a battery if the roc' in fact stri'es the person and is an assault if the roc' misses.

Aggravate assault
Aggravated assault is, in some /urisdictions, a stronger form of assault, usually using a deadly weapon. A person has commited an aggravated assault when that person attempts to) " cause seriously bodily in/ury to another person with a deadly weapon9 " cause grievous bodily harm to another person, such as rape or 'idnapping9 " have se( relations with a person who is under the age of consent. Aggravated assault can also be charged in cases of attempted harm aginst police officers or other public servants, or for bodily harm stemming from the rec'less operation of a motor vehicle. The latter is often reffered to as either vehicular assault or aggravated assault with a motor vehicle.