Criminal Justice System Case

CHAPTER 1

        Criminal Justice System:

                An Introduction[pic 1]

        Law, in its generic sense, is a body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by controlling authority and having binding legal force.

        The purpose of law is not only to “regulate the flow of human interaction” as stated by 20th –century theorist sociologist Max Weber.  The most significant purpose of law can be simply stated as follows:

1. Laws maintain order in the society;
2. Laws regulate human interaction;
3. Laws define the economic environment;
4. Laws enhance predictability;
5. Laws support the powerful;
6. Laws promote orderly social change;
7. Laws sustain individual rights;
8. Laws redress wrong;
9. Laws identify evildoers; and
10. Laws mandate punishment and rehabilitation of offenders.

        No one is above the law and it applies to everyone; therefore, law must be just or equal. The law must be upright and obligatory for the general welfare and benefit of all people.

        According to British philosopher Jeremy Bentham in his book Principles of legislation (1830), “every law is an infraction to liberty.”  This is because the law defines the conduct and behavior of all the people it governs.  A person who violates the rule of law should be punished or held to suffer the consequences of his or her action or omission. Punishment is imposed by law as a deterrent to potential violators. If a low does not carry any punishment, people would not be compelled to follow it; it is as if there is no law at all.  The law of the jungle would then apply and only the strongest and the fittest would rule in the community. Chaos would only negate the concept of protection, safety, and order that the law provides.

        One of the primary functions of an organized society is to ensure the security and safety of its people, and this and order to control people’s behavior.

DEVELOPMENT OF LAWS

[pic 2]

Mesopotamia Laws and Codes

        The earliest well-developed written laws from early cultures in Mesopotamia, the land bordered by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.  Research shows that he ancient Sumerian codes came into being as early as 3000 BCE.

        The Babylonian Code of Hammurabi is the most famous of the Mesopotamian cods to survive in its entirety.  It was discovered by French archeological expedition under the direction of Jacques de Morgan in 1902.  Many scholars believe that the code is actually a series of amendments to the common law of Babylonia.