If you have been wrongfully accused of a crime, or if you did commit a crime and you are trying to navigate your way through the criminal justice system, don’t go at it alone. Pro se litigants are held to the same standard as attorneys. If you need legal representation in the area, you came to the right place. Criminal Law is what inspired Preston to become an attorney. He is passionate about defending the wrongfully accused and protecting the constitutional rights of all defendants.
Definition of Criminal Law
The term “criminal law” refers to the actual laws, statutes, and rules that define acts and conduct as crimes, and establishes punishments for each type of crime. Criminal acts are generally those seen by the government to threaten public welfare or safety, the severity of which categorizes various crimes as either misdemeanor or felony. To explore this concept, consider the following criminal law definition.
Noun
- The area of local, state, and federal law that defines criminal acts and offenses, governs the arrest, detention, charging, and prosecution of accused offenders, and sets specific punishments.
Criminal Law vs. Civil Law
While civil law cases involve disputes between individuals or entities in which the parties seek a resolution to a contractual or other civil issue, criminal law cases involve the prosecution of an individual for a criminal act. In a civil case, the lawsuit is brought by an individual or entity seeking monetary or other remuneration from another individual or entity. A criminal law case is initiated by a prosecutor. An individual or entity found legally accountable in a civil lawsuit may be ordered to pay money, give up property, or perform certain contractual obligations, but are not subject to imprisonment. A person convicted of a criminal offense, however, may be ordered to pay a fine, and may be incarcerated.
What is a Crime
A crime is defined as any act or omission that violates a law. While most criminal acts in the U.S. are defined in written statutes, which vary significantly from state to state, some common law crimes do exist. No act may be considered or prosecuted as a crime if it has not already been established as a crime by statute, or by common law.
While common law is sometimes used in reference to laws and ideals brought forward through time, often from colonial England, it more currently refers to the edicts and decisions made by judges in court proceedings, which set a standard by which to judge future similar cases.