Criminal Law Mini Thesis
Format for Writing a Midterm Mini Thesis Paper This short paper explains and demonstrates the format required for midterm mini thesis papers. Of course, those papers will focus on a subject related to your course.
First midterm mini thesis papers should look professional. Use one-inch margins on all sides, 12-point font, and a standard businesslike font like Arial, Times New Roman, or something similar. Use black ink only on all parts of the paper. Paragraphs may be single spaced, but skip a line between each paragraph. If you prefer, you may doublespace the entire paper and use indentation for each paragraph.
Use a professional, businesslike tone. Jokes, slang, and cliches are inappropriate. On the other hand, plain understandable language and properly used words are always acceptable. “Many people mistake ‘academic tone’ for big words, vague ideas, and heady data. An academic tone is conscious, intentional, committed, and dedicated to helping readers better understand a subject or argument.”1
You noticed above, of course, the proper quotation format and footnoted citation to an article found online. Any wording that is not your own must be indicated either with quotation marks or with a block quote. Below is a sample of a block quote used when the quotation is longer than about four lines.
In legal writing, ctation serves two purposes: attribution and support. Citation facilitates attribution by identifying the source of ideas developed in the text, and materials quoted or referenced therein.... Citation facilitates support by directing the reader to a specific legal or factual authority that provides support for, or is otherwise relevant to, a proposition stated in the text. (Editors of the Columbia Law Review, et. al. The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 18th. Harvard Law Review Association: Cambridge, 2005.)
Notice that the block citation is “in line” directly after the quotation, rather than a footnote. Both the footnote and the inline citation methods are demonstrated in this paper, but it’s better to choose just one method and consistently use it throughout your paper. Additionally, if you prefer endnotes to footnotes, that is fine as well. Do check your copy of the Bluebook for the proper way to format the citation itself
Try not to be intimidated by the assignment. If you show that you have spent some time thinking about what you have learned so far, and if you heed the format and length requirements you should easily pass this assignment.
Criminal Law
Student Name
University
Course
Date
Criminal Law
Introduction
Universally, criminal law has been used to serve various purposes, the greatest of which is to prevent and forbid conduct that inflicts or threatens to inflict harm to individuals or other public interests. Such a view has been proposed by Ormerod and Laird (2018), who argued that the best way to define criminal law is to focus on its purpose. Actions that cause harm are considered to be criminal, which means that criminal law serves to condemn all wrongdoing. The current literature on criminal law may have focused on various issues, including the departure from politics to bureaucracy. Many laws governing crime are based on some bureaucratic regimes where expertise and not politics are used to justify the law and its remedies. The focus of this mini-thesis is to summarize core concepts and themes that comprise criminal law. Specifically, the criminal law will be defined and its historical background presented. The principle of criminal law, core theories, types, and jurisdictions are also discussed. Lastly, the limits of criminal law will be established.
Defining Criminal Law
The question of what criminal law is can be answered in several ways. However, Chiao (2019) states that one of the most influential answers is that criminal law condemns wrongdoing and vindicates pre-politically rights. As such, criminal law's intrinsic subject matter is certain moral wrongdoings and responses to these wrongdoings, mostly in the form of condemnatory punishment. Even though this scholar supports this definition that highlights a paradigm shift from political predispositions, he also supports the idea that criminal law and its institutions are subject to the political evaluations that apply to public institutions and public law. In essence, what is considered wrongdoing can be determined by the political institutions of a country similar to the bureaucratic expert-oriented institutions. Therefore, criminal law becomes public law regardless of whether or not it addresses the private rights of individuals. The rationale is that public law also starts with accounting for punishment as a means of facilitating social cooperation. Overall, one of the main definitions of criminal law is public law designed to vindicate actions and behaviors that harm other individuals or public interests.
With the above definition of criminal law, it is important to examine what actions and wrongfulness are prohibited, as well as the core of criminality. The view that criminal law vindicates private rights means that criminal punishment is the result of moral practice. In other words, punishment under moral wrongdoing serves the same purpose under criminal law. Criminalization is the act of prohibiting actions that are considered morally wrongful. In other words, criminalization means identifying and prohibiting conduct that violates rights, harms others, or is inherently wrongful. Therefore, the idea of wrongfulness is based on moral judgment and common sense, a view that predates lawyer-dominated trials (Chiao, 2019). Today, criminal law is set out in countries' legal documents, including constitutions. As such, all actions that violate the various statutes and doctrines embedded in these documents can be considered criminal. For example, the constitution of the United States contains the Bill of Rights represented by the first ten amendments to the constitution. An individual who violates this Bill of Rights can be considered to be engaging in crime. Regardless of the view adopted, criminal law dictates what actions people are allowed to do and those that are prohibited and punishable by law.
History of Criminal Law
One of the observations from the above definition of criminal law is that it is based on moral judgments. Morality is the basis of most ancient philosophies, which sought to distinguish right from wrong. Therefore, it can be argued that criminal law and criminal justice date as far back as the advent of civilization. Many records indicate that the Sumerian people, who came from modern-day Iraq, were the first civilization to produce a written set of criminal laws. This dates between 2100 to 2050 BC, and their code offered a distinction between civil and criminal wrongdoings (Crime Museum, n.d.). In this era, civil law was used to govern the conflicts between two or more private individuals. Modern examples include divorce or contract disagreements. On the contrary, criminal law was used to address cases initiated by the regime against individuals that have caused harm to others or the general public. This is the basic application of criminal law today.
Early documentation of criminal law in Europe emerged after 1066 when the Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror, invaded England. European law emerged in the 18th century to address criminal activity, where the practice of trying criminals in courts started to develop. Common law was created by the English government, which establishes and updates rules to govern people. The common law covered criminal and civil matters and has often worked by revision and expansion of the law by judges through their rulings. Today, many regimes are governed through common law or its derivatives, including the United States. The laws developed from the common law have often refined the definitions of crime and the severity of the offenses. Today, criminal cases are often categorized as felonies, misdemeanors, or treason. Misdemeanors are minor wrongdoings that are often settled through fines. On the contrary, felonies are more serious than face harsh penalties, including jail times of more than a year. Drug sales and other white-collar crimes fall under this category (Crime Museum, n.d.). Treason can be defined as actions that violate an individual’s allegiance to his or her country, often referring to war crimes or selling government secrets to hostile countries.
Principles of Criminal Law
The criminal is underlined by several general principles, each of which describes a critical requirement for the application of the law. The first principle is the presumption of innocence, which simply means that an individual is to be held innocent until proven guilty. In this case, a person charged with a crime will be considered innocent until the judge, jury, or magistrate can be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the individual is guilty (Lcs.sa, 2018). The term 'alleged' is used in discussing the charges to emphasize this principle. The main purpose of this principle is to protect the basic human rights of individuals, including protection against arbitrary arrests and imprisonment. Therefore, the courts must ensure that an individual being imprisoned has been found guilty of a crime and that the sentence given is the one allowed by the law.
The second principle is the burden of proof, which means that the prosecution has the responsibility of proving the guilt of an individual being charged with a crime. This principle also follows the maxim that the guilt has to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. As such, it is not the defendant's responsibility to prove innocence. This is the basic rule that applies in criminal trials. However, there are circumstances that a defendant may be required to provide evidence in a defense case. for instance, offenses that prohibit actions without reasonable excuse may require the defendant to explain his or her excuse for the actions. Even so, the prosecution is still required to carry the burden of proving that the excuse was not reasonable (Lcs.sa, 2018). Other instances include insanity, where the defendant has to carry a certain amount of the burden of proof.
The third principle is the right to remain silent, which is often applied upon arrest by police officers. Suspects arrested are not required to answer police questions but there are a few exceptions. The main exception is the officers' request for the name and address of the suspect found committing a crime to whom the police officer has reasonable cause to suspect. In this case, failure to give these details, or providing false details, constitutes an offense (Lcs.sa, 2018). Questions relating to firearms also have to be answered.
Double jeopardy is a principle in criminal law, which requires that no individual should be punished more than once for the same crime. In other words, no individual should be placed at risk of being convicted twice. The main exception to this principle is when an appeal court overturns a conviction, in which case a new trial is ordered (Lcs.sa, 2018). Other examples of incidences where new trials are required include cases of a mistrial or where the first trial resulted in a hung jury.
Core Theories
Several core theories have been used in criminal law, often to justify the law or form the basis for determining criminal liabilities. Among the core theories used in criminal law are the classical theory, positivist theory, and eclectic theory. In classical theory, the basis of criminal liability is human free will. The theory suggests that individuals who commit offenses often ...