Criminal Procedure Policy Paper

Criminal law is a specific body of law that relates to crimes. It is a set of rules that explains the conduct which is not allowed by the state because it may impose threat or danger to the safety and welfare of our public. Criminal law also sets out the punishment that will be imposed for an individual who may break the laws that are governed to protect the citizens of our country. Criminal law does differ from Civil law. In this essay I will be discussing the sources and purposes of criminal law, identify and explain the how jurisdiction creates and enforce the law and discuss how the adversarial system and standards of proof are done in criminal cases. Also throughout this essay, the differences between criminal liability and accomplice liability will be discussed and different types of offenses such as solicitation, conspiracy and attempt will be discussed.

The purpose of criminal law is to have regulation of flow to the human interaction. Without having any type of structure in any type of structured environment, it would be a total chaos for everyone. Laws are made for individuals to have some type of predictability in life to provide some type of structure for humans. Criminal law also is in society to some type of guarantee for individuals and allows them to use the authority of government to help plans their lives for safety in their environment. Also the purpose of criminal law is to help provide individuals certain freedoms and personal safety by governing the conduct of a person that violates the expectations of other individuals. The criminal law has several types of purposes. Some of criminal law purposes are to protect the public from harm, maintain social order, and deter criminals from activity against the public. Also criminal law has a unique purpose, which is to protect law-abiding citizens while maintaining social structure through the conviction and sentencing of criminals.

Jurisdiction is very unique for our country. They have powers that are divided into different elements of our government. Jurisdiction is basically given a form of government the ability to use its authority to exercise constitutional rights for areas pertaining to our government. Although states in our country are given the power through our legislative branch to make certain laws that are in regards to criminal activity within certain state and local boundaries. Jurisdiction also is when a certain geographical district or even subject matter of which an authority of a government body, especially a court may extend its authority. The adversarial system is when the prosecution is pitted by the court system sometimes recognized as the defense believing that the truth can best be noticed through a debate over the opposing sides. The judge plays a great role in the adversarial system, which is considered to be a more passive role. The term standards of proof in criminal cases are used when a prosecutor is trying to convict someone is criminal