Criminal Law Constitutional Safeguarding

Criminal Law Constitutional Safeguarding

Introduction

Criminal law includes the law, policies and regulations related to crime activities going on in the State. It helps in regulating and controlling the social conducts, and protects the citizens of the country against threats and harm. Criminal law promotes better life, health and safety of people in the country and makes sure that no one can harm them. Whoever violates the law set in the country is punished according to the criminal law. Criminal law differs from Civil law in many ways, and both are necessary for the betterment of any country. Criminal law not only focuses on providing a better and safe environment to the people, but also emphasizes on punishing the criminals who break the law and get involved in any kind of criminal activities.

A crime is defined as an act which goes against the law and violates the public law. In United States, the criminals are punished at state level giving others a lesson that criminal activities can make their life hell and if they get involved in such activities they will also get punished. Criminal justice system is formed which enforces laws and policies aimed to control the rate of crime in the country and to make it a better and safe place (Gardner and Singer, 2003).

Criminal procedures are protection against discriminatory use of criminal laws and unjustifiable behavior of supposed criminals. They are made to make sure that the constitutional rights of suspects, and defendants are enforced starting from preliminary police contact, and go on through the detention, inspection, trial, verdict, and appeal. The significant constitutional amendments regarding these procedures can be established in Amendments 4, 5 and 6 to the U.S constitution. Under the Bill of Rights and Supreme Court understanding of the Constitution, the courts must identify and support the rights of the charged. The Due process rights under the U.S Bill of right are enclosed in the 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments.

Discussion

The criminal law is made to protect the individuals and their properties from corrupt people and thefts. To preserve order in the society and to punish the criminals who deserve the punishments, all fall in the role of criminal law. But the criminal law can be distinguished and differentiated from various other laws like the contract law and tort law. There are certain areas where all these laws overlap in some points and concepts (Crime Museum, 2008).

The criminal law is an organized branch of the public law and this law affects the society a lot but more in a positive manner. The contract law and the law of tort are the private law branches that are in use and affect the people. The terminology that is used in the criminal proceedings is completely different from the terminology that is used in the civil proceedings. This can be explained by considering an example like, in the criminal law, a prosecution is brought by the State while in the contract and tort law, a person ...