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Criminal Law


Criminal law is fairly straightforward. It is based on two basic sets of rules: “must do” and “mustn’t do”. Anything included in the “mustn’t do” list is against the law. A person who breaks the law is said to have committed a criminal offence, and will be prosecuted and punished according to the gravity of the offence.

 

The law determines which types of behaviour are unacceptable, and people who do not take this into account may find themselves the subject of a criminal trial and receiving punishment or disgrace. The application of the law lies with the State, and therefore the branch of criminal law is basically the State versus the suspect (“The accused”).

 

In addition to murder, rape and theft, there are many other categories and sub-categories of criminal offences. For example, the category of violent crime includes manslaughter, murder, assault and battery; the category of crime against property includes is burglary, theft, armed robbery, etc.

 

The role of criminal law is to determine, according to the specific facts of the case, if the behaviour of the defendant was criminal or not, whether the act was intentional or not, if the act was done negligently, if the mental condition of the accused allows him to be tried, and so on. At the end of the process, if the accused is convicted the court will pass sentence.

 

The sentence will obviously depend on the gravity of the offence. The court must take into account whether the accused already has a criminal record, if it is a first offence or the repetition of an offence, if the accused has accomplices, and so on. If there are extenuating circumstances, such as self-defence, the penalty will be reduced accordingly.

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