Penal and criminal law is one and the same. These laws often inflict severe and exceptional punishments. Punishments vary by jurisdiction and offense. Normally, imprisonment, parole, execution, probation and fines are imposed. Sometimes the line can be blurred between civil and criminal law.
Sumarians are responsible for writing down the first written code. In these early times, civil and criminal laws were not separated.
The possibility for grave punishments and for failure to abide by the rules makes criminal law exceptional. Solitary confinement and incarceration that can be for life may be the result. Another type of confinement is house arrest. People are expected to abide by the rules that the probation or parole department stipulates. It also possible to have property or money taken as well when convicted.
Five ways to punish criminals exist. They are restitution, incapacitation, deterrence, retribution and punishment. These punishments will differ between jurisdictions.
When entire regions and societies effected by crimes of a heinous nature, they are subject to public international law. Following World War 2 and the Nuremburg Trials, Public International Law began. The dawn of a new era with people being responsible for their actions, even if it was done by government order, began. Sovereign immunity does not apply.
Enforcement of laws is done through fear of punishment.
Criminal law forbids most objectionable acts. Evidence is required to prove that a crime has occurred through action, omission of an act or threat of an act. This is known as actus reus, or guilty act. A physical element must be present for actus reus. If a person is in responsible for caring for another, whether by contract, blood relation living together or by an official position then actus reus applies. Situations created by a person that are hazardous includes actus reus as well. Good Samaritan Laws are applicable.
Strict liability crimes like a regulatory offense require no more than the guilty act. Mens rea, or guilty mind, must be proven because of the severity of the penalties for these crimes.
Actus reus and mens rea are needed for some crimes. Both cannot occur at different times but must be present at the exact same time.
If a person would have been harmed regardless of another’s action, then actus reus is void. If a person runs a red light and injures another, actus reus will not be voided because the injury was a direct result of an intended action.
Intention and motive are different. A guilty mind, or mens rea, means that there was intent to break the law. Good intentions do not overrule criminal intentions.
If an individual recognized the dangers of an action and still goes through with it, mens rea has been established. This is called recklessness. Courts normally consider if the individual should have recognized the risk or not. Intent is overruled when an individual should have recognized the risk but did not. This situation has resulted in mens rea being reduced in some areas of the law.
Intent affects the seriousness of a crime. If the intent is killing or causing bodily harm that can cause death, it is murder. If recklessness causes death it can be manslaughter. Who is harmed does not matter. If the intention is to hit someone but, someone else gets hit, intent is then shifted to that person. It is known as transferred malice.
Damage done by an individual despite mens rea or intent. Explicit intent is not necessary for every crime. Strict liability is employed by civil law.
Criminal law mainly applies to murder. Jurisdictions may have varying levels for murder. When malice and intent are present, first degree murder is the result. Death without malice is manslaughter. It often happens because of sensible aggravation, or reduced mental capacity. Death that results from recklessness is involuntary manslaughter in some regions.
One defense is settled insanity. Criminal responsibility can arise from assault and battery. Rape is a form of battery. Trespassing, conversion, embezzlement, theft and robbery are covered under penal law.
Charges might be sought if a crime is known about or if there is a conspiracy. It does not matter if the act is completed. Attempt, conspiracy, abetting and aiding are examples.
Archive for June, 2010
Lines Can Blur Between Civil and Criminal Law
Sunday, June 27th, 2010How to Get Into Law School Three Tips for the Brand New College Student
Sunday, June 27th, 2010I would have never bothered to read an article like this at a time when it would have mattered because, unfortunately, I didn’t think about how to get into law school, as early and often as I should have. Indeed, if you’re already more than half way through undergraduate school, you may want to look for advice somewhere else.
If, however, you are one of those chosen few youngsters who know what you want to do in life years before you have any business knowing such things, then I’ve got a few words of advice that will help you get into the law school of your dreams.
Although much of this will seem obvious, please take it to heart and try to understand why following these tips can make your life much easier in the future.
Tip #1 – Your GPA
The premise of this article relies on the assumption that you haven’t yet had the opportunity to screw up your college career yet. As such, you must make every effort to maximize your grade point average (“GPA”) during your undergraduate years.
Others will lie to you, but the truth is that your GPA, coupled with your LSAT score, are the most important factors in determining your admissibility to whatever law school you choose. Let me put this another way – your GPA is much, much, much more important than where you go to school, what activities you participate in, what classes you take, who your grandpa is, etc.
So if you are going to undergraduate school for the sole or primary reason of going to law school, take classes and pursue majors in which you can excel. Your high GPA will make life much easier when it comes time to apply to law school.
Tip #2 – Start Preparing for the LSAT Now
About 60% of prospective law students will do nothing or next to nothing to prepare for the Law School Admission Test (“LSAT”). Another 39% or more won’t do anything to prepare until six months or less before their test date. If you get started now, with literally years to perfect your understanding of the test and the time-proven strategies for maximizing your score, you have an excellent chance of getting a score that will virtually guarantee your admission to any school.
Anyone who has been through the process will tell you that the secret to success on the LSAT is practice. I’m not going to discuss the test and its components in any detail, but it is sufficient for me to say that the LSAT test does not test your knowledge of anything. Instead, it is designed to test your ability to think in certain ways.
Anyone can learn how to excel at thinking in these ways, but it takes lots of time and lots of practice. You shouldn’t be surprised to learn that the few months before most people take the LSAT is a hectic time. In addition to preparing for the LSAT, you may be preparing your law school applications, finishing your final college courses, and rejoicing in the prospect of your impending graduation.
The result of all this is that even those who think they are preparing extensively aren’t even coming close to practicing as much as you could if you start now. So my advice is that you begin reading all the practice materials you can, completing practice tests and even attending LSAT prep classes now.
Changing the way you think – or training yourself to think in a certain way – is a demanding and (biologically) a lengthy process. If you give yourself years of preparation you will demolish even your smartest competitors who have spent just weeks or months learning how the LSAT works.
Tip #3 – Do Interesting Things
In the event even your best efforts don’t result in a 4.0 GPA and 175 of the LSAT, you will find yourself in need of the law school admission advice found in my book, Covert Tactics for Getting Into the Law School of Your Choice.
As you will learn, students without premier numbers are given an opportunity to plead their case for admission via a personal statement, interview and/or personal visit. When it comes time to make that case, you should have something interesting to say.
Thus, much as you should prepare for the LSAT now, you should begin gathering ideas for you personal statement now. Don’t “volunteer” just for the sake of volunteering, but seek opportunities to do fascinating things that may – or may not – reinforce your desire to go to law school.
This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website. The author’s name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.
To learn more about the the techniques and strategies you can use to get into the law school of your choice, visit http://www.coverttactics.com.
Law School Essay
Sunday, June 27th, 2010Law school essay writing requires a high standard of writing. You can have professional writers prepare these essays for you or you can learn to do them on your own. You are advised to develop the skills required for quality Law school essay writing. This is because it will help you in the long run if you are serious about a career in law. If you are a law student or intend to become one, you should be keen to learn about writing law school essays.
Law school essay writing entails many aspects that you can develop. There are general aspects that you could learn about, such as writing an introduction, a body and a conclusion. However, there are other points that you need to give equal consideration when writing a Law school essay. These include things like providing reasons to your admissions officers about why you believe you should be given admission at a particular university.
In a Law school essay, you need to present your reasons to admissions officers tactfully. You need to keep in mind that admissions officers tend to receive essays with sentences that don’t really help applicants and are far too familiar. If you have to write a Law school essay on the theme ‘Why I Want to be a Lawyer’, you need to provide solid reasons for you wanting to pursue becoming a lawyer. You can’t just say that you want to become a lawyer.
In a Law school essay it does not help when you start with something like: “I have always wanted to be a lawyer…”. This type of statement lets you down because you cannot have “always wanted to be a lawyer”. In this type of Law school essay, you need to provide detail from your life experience that has perhaps influenced your decision to become a lawyer. Providing such detail will convince an admissions officer because your reasons would be realistic.
In a Law school essay, when you write on a theme like ‘Why I Want to be a Lawyer’, you could be a little creative and describe an incident in which you saw injustice take place. You could follow this by describing how you decided to help in serving justice. Always remember that admissions officers need to see something different, appealing and intelligent from applicants who are potential lawyers. This will make it easier for them to consider your Law school essay. A good selection of words can help an admission officer remember your essay out of a whole stack.
A Law school essay can have any theme. When you approach a theme, try to provide real reasons. It is the reasons you provide that will convince admissions officers. Try not to make statements that you think will be too commonly used in a Law school essay. The best way to avoid doing so is to try and put yourself in the admissions officer’s position. Think about what you would like to read in an essay from an applicant. You could research tips online that could help you with approaching different themes in law school essays.