NAME: EDMUND D.

IGNACIO DATE: 01/29/22

BS CRIMINOLOGY 3 BLOCK 6

Criminal Law Book 1

Assignment Module 1

QUESTION:
1. What is criminal Law?

Criminal law, as distinguished from civil law, is a system of laws concerned with
punishment of individuals who commit crimes. Thus, where in a civil case two
individuals dispute their rights, a criminal prosecution involves the government
deciding whether to punish an individual for either an act or an omission.
2. What are the characteristics of criminal law? Explain each.

• Public
The sanction is not imposed by responding to the interest of the person harmed by
the crime, but by responding to the interest of the community.
• It has three aspects
Objective: As a set of legal-criminal norms. They establish a civil responsibility
derived from the crime.
Subjective: The power of the State to create and apply sanctions to those who
violate these criminal-legal norms (Criminal Law Objective). This power is
exercised through Primary Criminalization (determination of the conducts to
sanction) and Secondary Criminalization (application of penalties).
Scientist: As a doctrine, the Science of Criminal Law is the discipline that interprets
and studies, in a systematic way, the Criminal Law Objective in force.

• Punitive
Legal assets are created by other legal systems than Criminal Law, but the latter
is responsible for protecting these legal systems through the imposition of
penalties.

• Discontinuous
It does not provide for state intervention in all situations, but specifies which are
the penalized behaviors (those that are more dangerous for the goods that it
protects).

• Behavior regulator
 Only deals with the actions of people who exceed their thinking, those that manifest
themselves outside the person. That is to say that Criminal Law does not deal with
the field of thought.

• Ultima Ratio
The criminal law functions as the last legal instance that sanctions a conduct, that
is to say that its intervention becomes necessary to penalize the most dangerous
conducts, before which no other State intervention is effective.

• Cultural
The conception of what is a crime depends on each culture, that is why Criminal
Law does not sanction the same actions in all countries, and it is even modified
over time in the same State.

• Normative
A rule determines permitted and prohibited behaviors. By pointing out the
behaviors that will be sanctioned, Criminal Law is normative since it defines what
is prohibited.

• Finalist
It has a specific objective, a collective purpose (it may be to maintain social order,
ensure the welfare of the community, guarantee justice, etc.)

• Very personal
It only punishes the people who committed the infraction, that is, the penalty cannot
be extended to their descendants or to any other person. In addition, the person
responsible cannot be replaced by another person in compliance with the penalty.
3. What are the two theories in criminal law? Differentiate each.
• Incarceration
An argument in favor of mass incarceration is that it gets criminals off the streets
and protects the public. The idea is to remove an offender from society, making it
physically impossible (or at least very difficult) for him or her to commit further
crimes against the public while serving a sentence. Incapacitation works as long
as the offenders remain locked up.
• Utilitarian Theory
The utilitarian theory of punishment seeks to punish offenders to discourage, or
“deter,” future wrongdoing. The retributive theory seeks to punish offenders
because they deserve to be punished. Under the utilitarian philosophy, laws should
be used to maximize the happiness of society.
• Retribution Theory
Proponents of this theory advocate just deserts, which defines justice in terms of
fairness and proportionality. Retributivists aim to dispense punishment according
to an offender’s moral blameworthiness (as measured by the severity of crimes of
which the offender was convicted).
• Deterrence Theory
Deterrence is another theory of punishment that is often debated. Crime
deterrence is simply the action of discouraging an activity through instilling doubt
or fear of its consequences in the minds of the perpetrator.
• Reintegrative Shaming
The reintegrative shaming theory emphasizes the importance of shame in criminal
punishment. The theory holds that punishments should focus on the offender’s
behavior rather than the characteristics of the offender or the actual crime
committed.