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CRIMINAL LAW – an Introduction. What is Criminal Law?. Public law that declares acts to be crimes and prescribes punishments for those crimes. Who has jurisdiction over Criminal Law?.
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What is Criminal Law? • Public law that declares acts to be crimes and prescribes punishments for those crimes
Who has jurisdiction over Criminal Law? • Provincially and municipally, there are QUASI-CRIMINAL LAWS, which are laws that cover less serious offences that are often punishable by fines, such as traffic and liquor related offences; • Federally, the majority of criminal laws are passed by Parliament and can be found in the Criminal Code of Canada. • Other federal laws can be found in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Youth Criminal Justice Act, and the Food and Drug Act, for example.
Since criminal law is controlled by the federal government, it applies to ALL of Canada. • This is unlike the United States, where criminal law, particularly punishments for crimes, is regulated by each individual state. • Significance? • This makes it possible to commit the same crime in 2 different states and be punished differently depending on which state you are in.
Functions of Criminal Law • Helps keep order in society; • To enforce moral standards based on the norms and beliefs of Canadians; • Helps deter people from committing crimes; • Protects people from harm to themselves or their property; • Punishes people for their wrongdoings (retribution – punish the prohibited act by “paying back society” and balancing the scales of justice); • Rehabilitates or helps those who have already harmed society and reintegrate them back into society.
What is a Crime? • An act or omission of an act that is prohibited and punishable by federal statute (law) • Decided by Parliament; • All crimes and their punishments in Canada can be found in the Criminal Code and other federal statute; • The Criminal Code is a reflection of society’s values – it changes as society’s values shift and the public pressures the government to do so.
For an action to be considered a crime, the following conditions must exist: • The action or behaviour must harm other people individually or society as a whole; • The action must violate the basic values of society (must be considered immoral, or wrong, by most Canadians); • The harm caused by the person’s actions must be serious; • The person must be punished by the criminal justice system for his/her actions; • Using the law to deal with the action must not violate the basic values of society; • Criminal law can make a significant contribution to resolving the problem.
Scenario 1 • Ken, a 6 year old boy, was pretending to be a cowboy while playing with his father’s pistol. He loaded the pistol as he had seen his father do in the past. He then took the pistol and shot his brother.
Scenario 2 • Jeremy, while in the boys’ washroom at school, sets fire to a roll of hand towel. As a consequence of his actions serious fire and smoke damage occurred in the school.
Scenario 3 • One evening while coming home from a friend’s home, Joyce was stopped by a police officer for driving her moped without lights and reflectors.
Scenario 4 • One evening while home alone, Heather heard a noise downstairs in her kitchen. Nervous, she grabbed her husband’s revolver from the bedside table. While terribly frightened, she made her way down the darkened stairs. Seeing a shadow, she fired the gun in its general direction. Unknowingly, she killed her husband who returned home two days earlier than expected from a business trip out of town.
Scenario 5 • While walking across someone's lawn, a postman fell down a large hole that had been dug because of a blocked sewage pipe. The hole was uncovered, and not indicated by a warning sign. The postman had always walked the same route while delivering mail to his customer for years.
Legal, Illegal and Criminal • It is important to recognise the difference between the three • Legal behaviour is anything that is not against the law and does not harm others • Illegal behaviour is more serious but does not warrant jail time • Criminal behaviour is Illegal behaviour that is criminalized . It involves acts for which you could be imprisoned • Test your knowledge – where does the behaviour belong?
Assignment • Read sections 4.1 - 4.3 (pages 113 - 120) and complete the following: • Define the following terms: • Criminal Code • criminal offence • Criminalizing • decriminalizing • legalizing • procedural justice • impartiality • enact • amend • prosecute • Complete Review Your Understanding questions 1 - 4 on page 118. • Complete Review Your Understanding questions 1 - 5 on page 121. • State the 7 purposes of the Criminal Justice System (p. 116) • Copy the Limits, Duties and Rights of Individuals diagram from page 120 into your notes.
