Criminal code

For the 1931 film, see The Criminal Code.

"Penal code" redirects here. For the 1932 film, see The Penal Code.

A criminal code (or penal code) is a document which compiles all, or a significant amount of, a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences which are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties which might be imposed for these offences and some general provisions (such as definitions and prohibitions on retroactive prosecution).^[1]

Criminal codes are relatively common in civil law jurisdictions, which tend to build legal systems around codes and principles which are relatively abstract and apply them on a case by case basis. Conversely they are rare in common law jurisdictions.

The proposed introduction of a criminal code in England and Wales was a significant project of the Law Commission from 1968 to 2008. Due to the strong tradition of precedent in the jurisdiction and consequently the large number of binding judgements and ambiguous 'common law offences', as well as the often inconsistent nature of English law - the creation of a satisfactory code became very difficult. The project was officially abandoned in 2008 although as of 2009 it has been revived.^[2]

In the United States a Model Penal Code exists which is not itself law but which provides the basis for the criminal law of many states. Individual states often choose to make use of criminal codes which are often based, to a varying extent on the model code.^[3] Title 18 of the United States Code is the criminal code for federal crimes.^[4]

Criminal codes are generally supported for their introduction of consistency to legal systems and for making the criminal law more accessible to laypeople.^[5] A code may help avoid a chilling effect where legislation and case law appears to be either inaccessible or beyond comprehension to non-lawyers. Alternatively critics have argued that codes are too rigid and that they fail to provide enough flexibility for the law to be effective.

The term "penal code" (code pénal) derives from the French Penal Code of 1791.

By country

• Australian criminal codes (The states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia do not use codes; the Commonwealth is in transition.)
• Criminal Code of Belarus
• Penal code of Brazil
• British Virgin Islands Criminal Code
• Criminal Code of Canada
• Criminal Code of Chile
• Danish penalty law
• English Criminal Code, a draft has existed since 1989 but, though debated since 1818, has never been enacted.
• Criminal Code of Finland
• French Penal Code
• German Criminal Code
• Indian Penal Code
• Iranian Criminal Code
• Iraqi Penal Code
• Italian Penal Code
• Criminal Code of Japan
• Criminal Code of Malta, enacted in 1854.
• Mexican Penal Code, enacted on August 14th, 1931.
• Pakistan Penal Code
• Revised Penal Code of the Philippines
• Polish Penal Code
• Penal Code (Singapore)
• Criminal Code of Russia
• Criminal Code of Ukraine
• Title 18 of the United States Code
• Model Penal Code by the American Law Institute

See also

• Codification

Notes

1. ^ "French Penal Code (ToC)". LegiFrance (Eng translation). http://195.83.177.9/upl/pdf/table_33.pdf. 
2. ^ "Newsletter". Law Commission. http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/docs/newsletter_spring_2009.pdf. 
3. ^ Robinson, Paul. "Introduction to the Model Penal Code". http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Rg51bCqZhDsJ:www.law.upenn.edu/fac/phrobins/intromodpencode.pdf+%22Model+Penal+Code%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=4. 
4. ^ "United States Code (Title 18)". GPO. http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/usc.cgi?ACTION=BROWSE&title=18usc&PDFS=YES. 
5. ^ "Law Commission". http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/codification.htm. 

This article about a criminal law topic is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Criminal codes Criminal law stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную? Criminal black man stereotype Criminal Code of Finland Look at other dictionaries: Criminal Code — A Criminal Code is a compilation of government laws that outline a nation s laws regarding criminal offenses, and the maximum and minimum punishments that courts can impose upon offenders when such crimes are committed (for example: vandalism,… …   Wikipedia Criminal code section 342 — Criminal Code of Canada Section 342 is stated in part IX which is called Offences against Rights of Property [1]. It deals specifically with Offences Resembling Theft . This criminal code is closely related with how computer crime is defined and… …   Wikipedia Criminal Code of Canada — The Criminal Code[1] or Code criminel[2] is a law that codifies most criminal offences and procedures in Canada. Its official long title is An Act respecting the criminal law (R.S.C. 1985, c. C 46, as amended). Section 91(27) of the Constitution… …   Wikipedia Criminal Code of Russia — The Russian Criminal Code (Russian: Уголовный кодекс Российской Федерации, frequently abbreviated УК РФ) is the prime source of Law of the Russian Federation concerning criminal offences. The previous Criminal Code of the Russian Federation came… …   Wikipedia Criminal Code of Finland — The Criminal Code of Finland[1] (Finnish: rikoslaki, Swedish: strafflag) is the codification of the central legal source concerning criminal law in Finland. History The Criminal Code came into effect in 1894. References Note: English not being… …   Wikipedia Criminal Code of Belarus — The Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus contains the fundamental laws to announce what is considered illegal to perform inside Belarus. Passed in 1999, several of these laws were carried over from laws passed in 1960 as the Byelorussian SSR …   Wikipedia Criminal Code of Japan — The Criminal Code (刑法 Keihō ) of Japan was passed in 1907 as Law No. 45. It is one of the Six Codes that form the foundation of Japanese law.ee also*Criminal law *Crime in Japan *Criminal justice system of Japan External links *… …   Wikipedia criminal code — Law. 1. the aggregate of statutory enactments pertaining to criminal offenses. 2. a systematic and integrated statement of the rules and principles pertaining to criminal offenses. [1780 90] * * * …   Universalium criminal code — Law. 1. the aggregate of statutory enactments pertaining to criminal offenses. 2. a systematic and integrated statement of the rules and principles pertaining to criminal offenses. [1780 90] …   Useful english dictionary criminal code — codex of laws defining criminal acts …   English contemporary dictionary 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”