CRIMINAL LAW

Criminal lawis the body of law that defines criminal offenses, regulates the apprehension, charging, and trial of suspected persons, and fixes punishment for convicted offenders. Criminal law defines acts as criminal. In other words, however immoral or unjust an act may be thought to be, it is not a crime unless the law says it is one. A crime is usually defined as a voluntary act or omission, together with a given state of mind.

The Government's strategy for dealing with crime is to sustain the rule of law by preventing crime where possible; to detect culprits when crimes are committed; to convict the guilty and acquit the innocent; to deal firmly, adequately and sensibly with those found guilty; and to provide more effective support for the victims of crime. It is also concerned with ensuring that public confidence in the criminal justice system is maintained and that a proper balance between the rights of the citizen and the needs of the community as a whole is maintained.

With continuing concern in Britain, as in many other countries, over rising crime rates, public expenditure on the law and order programme reflects the special priority given by the Government to these services. Recent increases have been made to cover, in particular, greater police manpower, the probation service and extra spending on prison building. More than two-thirds of total expenditure is initially incurred by local authorities (with the help of central government grants), mainly on the police service.

A number of measures to strengthen the criminal justice system have been taken. The Drug Trafficking Offences Act 1986 provides for the pretrial freezing of suspected drug trafficker's assets, backed up on conviction by immediate confiscation of the assets to the value of the proceeds of the crime; similar provisions are included in the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1987. The Public Order Act 1986 codifies the common law offences of riot, unlawful assembly and affray; enhances the powers of the police to control public processions and assemblies likely to result in serious disorder or disruption; strengthens the law against incitement to racial hatred; and provides additional powers to combat football hooliganism. Under the Criminal Justice Act 1987 a Serious Fraud Office with wide powers to investigate and prosecute serious or complex fraud in England, Wales and Northern Ireland was established in 1988.

Criminal law also deals with the preparation of charges and with trial procedures. The latter involves the formation of juries, the guarantee of a public trial, the right to counsel, the presentation of evidence, the establishment of guilt, and sentencing, if guilt has been established. Criminal law is concerned with postconviction procedures, such as calling for a new trial or challenging a conviction, either in the court where the conviction was declared or in appeal to a higher court.