criminal law summary

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Below is the article summary. For the full article, see criminal law.

criminal law, Body of law that defines criminal offenses, regulates the apprehension, charging, and trial of suspected offenders, and fixes punishment for convicted persons. Substantive criminal law defines particular crimes, and procedural law establishes rules for the prosecution of crime. In the U.S., substantive criminal law originated for the most part in common law, which was later codified in federal and state statutes. Modern criminal law has been affected considerably by the social sciences, especially in the areas of sentencing, legal research, legislation, and rehabilitation. See also criminology.

Cesare Beccaria Summary

Cesare Beccaria was an Italian criminologist and economist whose Dei delitti e delle pene (1764; Eng. trans. J.A. Farrer, Crimes and Punishment, 1880) was a celebrated volume on the reform of criminal justice. Beccaria was the son of a Milanese aristocrat of modest means. From an early age, he

Sir William Blackstone Summary

Sir William Blackstone was an English jurist, whose Commentaries on the Laws of England, 4 vol. (1765–69), is the best-known description of the doctrines of English law. The work became the basis of university legal education in England and North America. He was knighted in 1770. Blackstone was the

John Linnell: portrait of Sir Robert Peel

Robert Peel Summary

Robert Peel was a British prime minister (1834–35, 1841–46) and founder of the Conservative Party. Peel was responsible for the repeal (1846) of the Corn Laws that had restricted imports. He was the eldest son of a wealthy cotton manufacturer, Robert Peel (1750–1830), who was made a baronet by