Criminal Law

Criminal Law - Legal Articles

Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Crimes
Provided by: McNabb Associates, P.C.
Following national concern surrounding corruption in corporate institutions, scrutiny for wrong-doing swept from the private to the public sector. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced a campaign against corruption, and an expansion of the role of federal law-enforcement agencies. This campaign has engulfed well-known public figures like Vincent "Buddy" Cianci, and demonstrated that the government will use its resources to punish acts of public corruption.
Mail Fraud Crimes
Provided by: McNabb Associates, P.C.
Since its enactment in 1872, mail fraud has been a prominently charged federal offense. The statutes ease of application, flexibility, and breadth make it useable in virtually every variation of fraudulent activity. The essence of the mail fraud statute is an intentionally deceptive scheme or plan done in connection with the use of the U.S. mail or any private commercial carrier[1].

Criminal Law - Overview

Criminal Law - An Overview by Wex
Criminal law involves prosecution by the government of a person for an act that has been classified as a crime. Civil cases, on the other hand, involve individuals and organizations seeking to resolve legal disputes. In a criminal case, the state, through a prosecutor, initiates the suit, while in a civil case the victim brings the suit. Persons convicted of a crime may be incarcerated, fined, or both. However, persons found liable in a civil case may only have to give up property or pay money, but are not incarcerated.

A "crime" is any act or omission (of an act) in violation of a public law forbidding or commanding it. Though there are some common law crimes, most crimes in the United States are established by local, state, and federal governments. Criminal laws vary significantly from state to state. There is, however, a Model Penal Code (MPC) which serves as a good starting place to gain an understanding of the basic structure of criminal liability.

Crimes include both felonies (more serious offenses -- like murder or rape) and misdemeanors (less serious offenses -- like petty theft or jaywalking). Felonies are usually crimes punishable by imprisonment of a year or more, while misdemeanors are crimes punishable by less than a year. However, no act is a crime if it has not been previously established as such either by statute or common law. Recently, the list of Federal crimes, dealing with activities extending beyond state boundaries or having special impact on federal operations, has grown. See Title 18.

Criminal Law - By Wikipedia
Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of statutory and common law that deals with crime and the legal punishment of criminal offenses. There are four theories of criminal justice: punishment, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. It is believed that imposing sanctions for the crime, society can achieve justice and a peaceable social order. This differs from civil law in that civil actions are disputes between two parties that are not of significant public concern. Criminal law in most jurisdictions, both in the common and civil law traditions, is divided into two fields:

Criminal procedure regulates the process for addressing violations of criminal law
Substantive criminal law details the definition of, and punishments for, various crimes.

Theories of Criminal Law - Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Philosophical ‘theories of criminal law’ may be analytical or normative (§ 1). Once we have identified the salient features that distinguish criminal law from other kinds of law (§2), we ask whether and why we should maintain such an institution (§3). Instrumentalist answers to this question portray criminal law as an efficient technique that helps us achieve worthwhile ends; non-instrumentalist answers portray it as an intrinsically appropriate response to certain kinds of wrongful conduct (§4). By considering the question of how the criminal law should address the citizens (§5), we can discern the truth in the non-instrumentalist perspective. The next question concerns the proper scope of the criminal law: what kinds of conduct should be criminalised? Several candidate principles of criminalisation are critically discussed (§6), including the Harm Principle, and the claim that the criminal law should be concerned with ‘public’, rather than merely ‘private’, wrongs.

Criminal Law - International Organizations United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI)
The Master's programme is designed for those who seek to develop a unique insight in International Criminal Law, its implementation and the International Organisations' activities in the area. In particular, it is aimed at: University Graduates in Law, Political Science, International Relations, or equivalent qualifications; Young professionals in government institutions, local authorities, international organisations, NGOs; Lawyers seeking a specialisation in the field of international criminal justice.

Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
An international criminal court has been called the missing link in the international legal system. The International Court of Justice at The Hague handles only cases between States, not individuals. Without an international criminal court for dealing with individual responsibility as an enforcement mechanism, acts of genocide and egregious violations of human rights often go unpunished. In the last 50 years, there have been many instances of crimes against humanity and war crimes for which no individuals have been held accountable. In Cambodia in the 1970s, an estimated 2 million people were killed by the Khmer Rouge. In armed conflicts in Mozambique, Liberia, El Salvador and other countries, there has been tremendous loss of civilian life, including horrifying numbers of unarmed women and children. Massacres of civilians continue in Algeria and the Great Lakes region of Africa.

Criminal Law - International Guides

International Criminal Law Resources - Buffalo Criminal Law Center
provides on-line access to criminal law materials from the United States and throughout the world, including, among other things, criminal codes, criminal procedure codes, and enforcement codes.

International Criminal Law: A Selective Resource Guide
The purpose of this guide is to provide researchers with a selective quick guide to basic and significant materials, both print and electronic, in the topic area of international criminal law and its processes. As a hyperlinked, contextual guide, it is not intended as a substitute for the compilation of any updated, comprehensive bibliography by using electronic indexes and catalogues and their print equivalents (for older and historic materials).