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Criminal law (1)

Under the criminal law, the state can prosecute a person for an act that has been classified as a crime. A crime is
any act or omission (=when a person does not act, but should have), that is against the criminal law and punishable by
a fine, imprisonment or some other sort of punishment.
Prosecutions are begun by the state through a prosecutor. This is different to the civil law, where it is the victim who brings
the suit. However, some jurisdictions also allow private prosecutions. In criminal trials, the case against the person accused of a crime
(known as the accused or the defendant) is presented by a prosecutor, or the prosecution. The defendant is represented by a
defence lawyer (US: defense attorney). The prosecution must prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. This means that the jury (or
other trier of fact) must be as certain as it can possibly be that the defendant actually committed the crime before convicting.
This standard of proof contrasts with civil cases, where the claimant generally needs to show a defendant is liable on the balance of
probabilities (more than 50% probable). In the US, this is referred to as the preponderance of the evidence. Once convicted, the judge
must then pass sentence. The sentence passed will be a fine, imprisonment, community service or some other punishment. . If the
prosecutor does not prove this, a verdict of not guilty is given.
Depending on the offence and the jurisdiction, a court may have a number of different forms of punishment available to it. The court may
sentence an offender to execution, corporal punishment, or imprisonment. A court may also suspend the sentence, which means that
it will not be enforced as long as no further offence is committed within a specified period. For less serious offences, a court may choose
to impose a fine; supervise the offender through parole or probation; or place them on a community service order. Community service
orders involve the offender doing work in the community, such as cleaning the streets or performing other light physical tasks.
Jurisdictions often distinguish between different types of offences. In common law jurisdictions, these categories include offences against
the person (e.g. assault, which is when you hurt someone physically), offences against property (e.g. vandalism, which is when you
deliberately damage someone elses property), public order crimes (e.g. prostitution) and business crimes (e.g. insider
dealing or fraud). Some jurisdictions also distinguish between felonies (more serious offences, such as rape) and misdemeanours (less
serious offences, such as petty theft).
Most crimes are involve two elements: a guilty act (actus reus) and a guilty mind, or intent (mens rea). The prosecutor must prove that
both actus reus and mens rea were present at the same time (or at some time) during the chain of events of a particular crime. The

exception to this is strict liability crimes. In the case of a strict liability crime, guilt will be found whether or not the action in question was
committed deliberately. Strict liability crimes include statutory rape and certain traffic offences.

Types of law (1)


The diagram below provides general definitions of various types of laws, illustrating the importance of each in the hierarchy of the U.S. legal
system. Read the diagram and answer the questions.

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