Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It is the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people. Criminal law also sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey these laws. Criminal law differs from civil law, whose emphasis is more on dispute resolution than in punishment.
Read more about Criminal Law: History, Objectives of Criminal Law, Selected Criminal Laws, Criminal Law Jurisdictions
Famous quotes containing the words criminal and/or law:
“Squeeze human nature into the straitjacket of criminal justice and crime will appear.”
—Karl Kraus (1874–1936)
“The only law was that enforced by the Creek Lighthorsemen and the U.S. deputy marshals who paid rare and brief visits; or the “two volumes of common law” that every man carried strapped to his thighs.”
—State of Oklahoma, U.S. relief program (1935-1943)