Criminal Law Studies

How does the US criminal justice system decide just what is a crime? How does the whole world of criminal law work, and where did it come from? If we go back to Roman times we find that there was no criminal law, and that all offenses were deemed to be against the individual. It was only after the Romans that the concept of crimes against society emerged. Murder, rape and the like were given a special classification in order to protect the social order.

It is the fact that a crime is harmful to society, not just an individual, that makes it a criminal offense. Civil law is the branch of the legal system which manages crimes against the individual. Civil law covers situations where individuals have suffered damages, such as in the case of a wrongful dismissal. Someone guilty of a civil charge is likely to face a fine, whereas someone guilty of a criminal charge is likely to face jail time.

For a crime to have been committed two conditions need to be present: the criminal must have had a criminal intent, and they have to have undertaken the act. Mens rea is the legal term for criminal intent, and actus reus is the legal term for having committed the act. There are some rare crimes that do not need these two conditions to be present, and these are crimes of strict liability. With these crimes it does not matter whether there was intent or not.

State statutes, case law and federal statutes are the three main ways that crimes are defined. Of these the most interesting is case law. Case law emerges from specific trials, where judges publish their rational for rulings. These opinions serve as precedents for future cases. However, exactly what constitutes a crime is sufficiently broad for defense lawyers to make arguments case by case.

There are a number of elements that make up a criminal offense, and in the US criminal justice system the main thing that is debated in the trial courtrooms nationwide is whether each of these elements was present. This holds true whether the trial is in the state courts, federal courts, or special state criminal courts

The US criminal justice system determines whether or not crimes have taken place. It does so by determining whether the elements of the criminal offense were present. If you are facing criminal charges you are up against some significant resources. This web page covers some interesting aspects of criminal law: http://hubpages.com/hub/Criminal-Liability-and-Actus-Reus