Criminal Law Definition:
Criminal law defined as " the
law concerned with the establishment of crimes and punishments. In other words,
it is a set of legal rules that define criminal offenses and its penalties
".
It is a written law issued by the competent
legislative authority.
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| Criminal Law |
Introduction to Criminal Law:
This article provides a comprehensive guide to the definition of criminal law, its nature, functions, divisions, and the most prominent principles of criminal law that govern criminal justice, through the following elements:
- What is the definition of criminal law?
- What is the difference between criminal law and penal law?
- Divisions of criminal law.
- Characteristics of criminal law.
- The difference between the rules of criminal law and the rules of religion.
- The difference between the rules of criminal law and the rules of ethics.
- Principles of criminal law.
- What is the difference between general and special criminal law.
What is the Definition of Criminal Law?
There have been many contributions
from legal scholars in defining criminal law, although they all share the
same foundation and meaning.
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| Criminal Law Definition |
We mention the three
most important legal formulations used to define criminal
law:
Criminal law is:
" That branch of law that deals
with actions and omissions that are considered criminal offenses in the eyes of
the law, and the criminal penalties prescribed for them ".
Criminal law is:
" A branch of law in which the
state defines human actions considered crimes due to the disturbance they cause
in society as a result of harming or threatening the important interests of
society or individuals,
And it defines the penalties
prescribed for those who commit these actions ".
Criminal law is:
" A set of legal rules that
define crimes and determine the penalties and preventive measures prescribed
for them, and the law that includes them is described as 'substantive
criminal law ".
What is the Difference between Criminal Law and Penal Law?
Criminal law scholarship has traditionally
used the terms "criminal law" and "penal law"
interchangeably, with each term expressing the other in the sense of
substantive criminal law.
However, criminal law in its
broad (comprehensive) sense encompasses both penal law and criminal
procedure law, as previously mentioned.
Therefore, according to the
comprehensive meaning of criminal law:
The relationship between criminal
law and penal law is the relationship of the origin to the branch.
Criminal law, in its comprehensive
sense, is the law that governs criminal justice in general (substantively and
procedurally). However, in the technical sense and as a synonym for penal law,
criminal law is penal law.
Divisions of Criminal Law:
Criminal law (in its comprehensive sense) includes two main divisions, each complementing the other and indispensable: Penal Law and Criminal Procedure Law.
Together, they complete criminal justice within a lawful state.
Regarding the difference between the
rules of penal law and the rules of criminal procedure law, criminal law
scholars agree on the following:
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| penal law |
Penal Law:
Definition of penal law:
"It is a substantive law, and it refers to a set of legal rules that
address criminal offenses and determine the penalties prescribed for
them ".
It is a substantive law because it
deals with issues related to criminalization and punishment, i.e., the extent
to which the state's right to punish is established or not, in terms of the
origin, scope, and requirements of that right.
Therefore, everything related to the
establishment of criminal offenses, the determination of their elements, the
scope of responsibility for them, and the penalty (punishment) prescribed for
them falls within the framework of the substantive rules of criminal law, i.e.,
the rules of penal law.
In other words, the rules of penal
law determine the conditions under which an act acquires legal
significance and considered a crime, and is suitable for the
consequences of a special type of legal effect, and the
criminal systems attached to it.
The penal law divided into
two parts: general penal law and special penal law, or general criminal law and
special criminal law.
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| criminal procedure law |
Criminal Procedure Law:
As for the definition of criminal
procedure law: " It is that branch of public law by which the state
regulates its authority to punish those who are proven to have
committed a crime ".
Thus, criminal procedure law includes
a set of rules of a procedural or formal nature that determine the methods or
ways in which society's right to punish is fulfilled.
On the other hand, criminal procedure
law is a set of rules that regulate the activity undertaken by the public
authority due to a crime that has been committed, to reach the
person responsible for it and impose a criminal penalty on them.
Importance of Distinguishing Between Rules of Penal Law and Rules of Criminal Procedure Law:
The importance of differentiating
between the rules of penal law and those of criminal procedure law (divisions
of criminal law) lies in the application of certain general
provisions of criminal law to one but not the other.
For instance, regarding the
interpretation of criminal texts, the interpretation of substantive
rules related to criminalization and penalization does not allow for analogy,
whereas the interpretation of procedural rules does.
Another example is the possibility of
applying a substantive criminal rule retroactively to the accused and
to events that occurred before its issuance if it is in the best interest
of the accused.
On the other hand, a procedural
criminal rule only has a direct effect in all cases, regardless of
whether it is in the interest of the accused or against them.
Substantive
Criminal Rule and Formal (Procedural) Criminal Rule:
Determining the nature of a criminal
rule, whether it is substantive or procedural, is not related to
where it appears in the legislation.
In other words, not every rule in the
Penal Code is necessarily a substantive rule, and not every rule in the
Criminal Procedure Code is necessarily a formal rule.
It may happen,
exceptionally, that a procedural rule appears in the Penal Code and a
substantive rule appears in the Criminal Procedure Code.
The key here is to determine the
nature of the rule and its subject. Is it a substantive subject or procedural
subject?
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| criminal law principles |
Principles of Criminal Law:
In reality, criminal law based on
a large set of principles and foundations that reflect the progress of humanity
in thought and civilization regarding the management of the criminal
justice system.
Some of these principles are
substantive, related to criminalization and punishment, and some are
procedural, related to criminal procedures and the rules of investigation,
search, inquiry, accusation, and trial.
- Substantive principles (principles of criminal law).
- Procedural criminal principles (principles of criminal procedure law).
Among the
most prominent principles of criminal law in the substantive field (the field
of creating crimes and determining their punishments):
The principle of legality of crimes
and punishments (nullum crimen nulla poena sine lege), means
there is no crime or punishment except by law. This principle has several
sub-principles.
such as the non-retroactivity of
criminalization and punishment provisions unless they are in favor
of the accused, and the inadmissibility of resorting to analogy
regarding criminalization and punishment.
Also, the principle of personal
criminal responsibility and the principle
of personal criminal punishment, the principle of the
judicial nature of criminal punishment, and the principle of proportionality
between crime and punishment, etc.
Among the
most prominent principles of criminal law in the procedural field (the field of
investigation, accusation, and trial):
The principle of
the legality of criminal procedures in general, is a broad
principle that encompasses many of the foundations of criminal procedures that
the public authority must respect when pursuing and trying criminals.
At the forefront of the procedural
foundations of criminal law: the principle of respecting the privacy of
life, the disregard of evidence obtained illegally, the
inadmissibility of forcing a person to be a witness against himself, and the
invalidity of criminal procedures resulting from torture or pressure, etc.
Characteristics of Criminal Law:
Criminal law characterized by
a set of intrinsic characteristics that distinguish it and highlight
its special nature, both from the substantive and procedural aspects.
Perhaps this is due to the importance of criminal law and its role in society.
- Criminal law is a branch of public law.
- Criminal law is the general law of criminalization and punishment.
- Criminal law only issued by the legislative authority constitutionally authorized to issue it.
- Criminal law is a written law that does not recognize customary rules.
- Criminal law based on the principle of social necessity in criminalization.
- Criminal law based on the principle of necessity and proportionality in criminalization and punishment.
- Criminal law is an explicit law based on the qualities of clarity and specificity.
- Criminal law based on the prohibition of the retroactive effect of criminalization and punishment provisions.
- Criminal law is a law of actions and does not punish intentions.
- Criminal law based on the principle of equality in criminal responsibility.
There is no doubt that criminal law
has many intrinsic characteristics that distinguish it from other laws, but
the characteristics of criminal law need more detail, which necessitates
dedicating them to a separate topic.
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| criminal law purposes |
What is the Purpose of Criminal Law? The Role of Criminal Law in Society:
The purpose of criminal law is a
question with many answers; especially since the functions and goals of
criminal law are becoming increasingly broad and complex over time due to their
connection to rapid and successive social changes that do not stop.
However, in general, we can highlight
the main goals of criminal law as general ideas that encompass many meanings,
which are as follows:
Criminal law aims to achieve justice: This is the main function of criminal law, which is to claim the rights of the victim and society from the perpetrator and to remove the effects of the crime as much as possible.
In other words, to restore balance to the scale that
disrupted due to the occurrence of the crime.
Criminal law aims to protect the entity of the state: This done by preserving the state and its public authorities and ensuring that everyone is obligated to obey the laws.
Criminal
law expresses the state's monopoly on the right to punish criminals; otherwise,
revenge would prevail, chaos would spread, and public order would collapse.
Criminal law
aims to protect society: In its security, stability, and
the regularity of public life and various transactions among members of
society.
Criminal law
aims to provide security and reassurance to individuals: Where every person feels secure about their
interests, money, children, and relatives because they are generally under the
protection of the law, as an individual cannot always accompany all of the
above to protect them.
In reality, the above goals of
criminal law are not exhaustive, but rather they are essential
axes, each of which can include other subsidiary goals of criminal law.
The complexity of modern societies
and the rise in crime rates according to criminology
indicators undoubtedly deepen the role of criminal law in society.
The correct application of
criminalization and punishment provisions ensures the fight against crimes and
the protection of society from their evils by achieving general deterrence and
specific deterrence.
What is the Difference between Rules of Criminal Law and Rules of Religion and Morality?
The positive nature of criminal law
rules inevitably imposes an apparent difference between criminal law rules as
legal rules and rules of religion and morality.
Criminal law is
a serious law given its nature and its reliance
on the authority of command and prohibition in society using criminalization
and punishment.
The consequences of invoking criminal
law rules against individuals are very serious, as they involve imposing
criminal penalties on those found criminally responsible for the
criminalized act.
The Difference between Rules of Criminal Law and Rules of Morality:
As a rule, the criminal legislator
does not always criminalize acts that are contrary to
morality. It cannot be said that every morally unacceptable act is a
criminal offense; this is not true.
Rather, the legislator criminalizes patterns of behavior (acts) that they consider to have a certain degree of social danger according to the interests of society,
and deem these acts worthy of
criminalization within the framework of the principle of necessity and
proportionality in criminalization and punishment.
Criminal law governed by a
set of principles that it cannot exceed while exercising its role in
criminalization and punishment, such as universal human values and human rights
principles.
Criminal law governed by the
principles of constitutional legality in criminal law, foremost among which are
the principle of criminal legality and the principle of clarity and specificity
of criminalization and punishment provisions, etc.
Therefore, criminal law may not criminalize certain acts that may seem contrary to moral principles, no matter how despicable these acts may be,
as long as they are not
mentioned in any of the criminalization and punishment provisions
stipulated by law, in compliance with the principle of legality of crimes and
punishments.
An example of this is lying, or as
criminal law, jurisprudence calls it, "mere lying," as long as it
does not result in the completion of the legal structure of a crime stipulated
by law.
Conversely, criminal law may
intervene to criminalize certain acts, in the interest of
protecting the community, even though they do not seem to be contrary to
morality and are included in criminalization.
This is when the legislator
believes that their danger to society necessitates confronting them through
criminal law using criminalization and punishment.
Difference between Rules of Criminal Law and Rules of Religion:
Criminal law must be clear and
specific in sending the criminal duty to individuals (do and do not do /
whoever does such and such is punished with such and such).
This is to protect the rights and freedoms of individuals from being violated or threatened if the matter of criminalization and punishment is left in the hands of the public authority without clear and precise limits,
and in compliance with
the principle of criminal legality from another perspective.
The criminal legislator must provide
the criminal judge with explicit and specific provisions regarding criminal
penalties imposed on perpetrators of crimes without any modification or
change in the type or duration of the criminal penalty.
Therefore, applying the rules of
religions as direct sources of criminalization and punishment may lead to great
chaos, selectivity, and discrimination in the field of criminalization and
punishment, which is what human societies have revolted against for a long
time.
History provides the best evidence of what humanity has suffered from the authoritarian and tyrannical power of religious entities and clerics in this field.
History has recorded dark periods for humanity during the development
of criminalization and punishment, where the harshest punishments imposed for
the most trivial acts.
Even within the same religion, we
find great diversity and difference in rulings, ideas, and schools of
thought, which contradicts the qualities of clarity and specificity that
criminal law rules must have, and contradicts the principle of
legality of crimes and punishments.
It also opens the door for wide judicial discretion when applying criminal penalties.
We
find two people who committed the same crime and
given completely different punishments. Their fates differ despite
the similarity of their actions.
Therefore, not every act that is religiously forbidden is a criminal offense, and not every criminal offense is a religious sin or transgression.
Some acts are extremely
serious from a religious perspective but are no longer
criminalized under criminal law provisions today.
Examples of this are sorcery, adultery, and homosexuality in some societies.
This may be due to the
difficulty of determining the legal structure of the crime regarding these acts
or due to the conviction of some societies that individual freedom
necessitates not criminalizing such acts.