CRIMINALISATION
[CRIMINAL LAW 1.1]
,legal definition of crime
◂ a crime is something that’s punishable by law,
forbidden by statute, an offence, etc.
◂ violates a legal code within its jurisdiction
◂ doesn’t have anything to do with morality, and is only
criminal if a court adjudicates this (Tappan)
◂ makes criminal law the formal cause of crime
,problems with blackletter definition
◂ act is only criminal if the law says it is
◂ means only those caught and convicted are criminals
◂ doesn’t answer why or how acts are criminalised
◂ neglects that crime isn’t static or permanent
◂ e.g. law’s changing attitude towards alcohol in USA
◂ divorces law from its social context
◂ before law became a modern institution in the 18th
century, crimes were seen as sins or private matters
◂ social context changes affect law e.g. more inchoate
crimes to combat terrorism in today’s political climate
◂ cultural differences also, e.g. different ages of criminal
responsibility in different countries
, crime as an infraction on a norm
◂ crime violates some social and moral code
◂ each society has its own conduct norms
◂ crimes deviate from these in an antisocial way
◂ deviance is culturally relative
◂ still applies to all and causes social harm
◂ means social injury must exist to criminalise activity
◂ brings light to fact that legal definition of crime is
just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ (Muncie)
◂ underneath are problems like racism, disorder, etc.,
meaning crime is the product of these objects
◂ however, law doesn’t always follow public
consensus of what should be criminalised
[CRIMINAL LAW 1.1]
,legal definition of crime
◂ a crime is something that’s punishable by law,
forbidden by statute, an offence, etc.
◂ violates a legal code within its jurisdiction
◂ doesn’t have anything to do with morality, and is only
criminal if a court adjudicates this (Tappan)
◂ makes criminal law the formal cause of crime
,problems with blackletter definition
◂ act is only criminal if the law says it is
◂ means only those caught and convicted are criminals
◂ doesn’t answer why or how acts are criminalised
◂ neglects that crime isn’t static or permanent
◂ e.g. law’s changing attitude towards alcohol in USA
◂ divorces law from its social context
◂ before law became a modern institution in the 18th
century, crimes were seen as sins or private matters
◂ social context changes affect law e.g. more inchoate
crimes to combat terrorism in today’s political climate
◂ cultural differences also, e.g. different ages of criminal
responsibility in different countries
, crime as an infraction on a norm
◂ crime violates some social and moral code
◂ each society has its own conduct norms
◂ crimes deviate from these in an antisocial way
◂ deviance is culturally relative
◂ still applies to all and causes social harm
◂ means social injury must exist to criminalise activity
◂ brings light to fact that legal definition of crime is
just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ (Muncie)
◂ underneath are problems like racism, disorder, etc.,
meaning crime is the product of these objects
◂ however, law doesn’t always follow public
consensus of what should be criminalised
