SOC 1500 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Assisted Suicide, Actus Reus, Basalt
2 Apr 2013
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Document Summary
Criminal law controls the formal definition and content of crime. It incorporates historical traditions, moral beliefs, and social values, and is influenced by political and economic developments and conditions. Criminal law is a living concept, constantly evolving. Governs the form and direction of almost all human interaction. The law defines the behaviours of society labels as criminals. Early legal codes: code of hammurabi on basalt rock columns. First written criminal code developed in babylonia about 2000 b. c: an eye for an eye lex talionis. Punishment based on physical retaliation: severity of punishment depended on classe standing. Foundation of judeo-christian moral teachings and also a basis for our present day legal system: roman law contained in the twelve tables. Believed that an unwritten code gave arbitrary and unlimited power to the wealthy who served as magistrates. Early crime, punishment , and law: dark ages.
