WDW101Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Indictable Offence, Narcotic Control Act, Summary Offence
15 Sep 2013
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There is no one single theory about what criminal law can do or should do. One of the purposes is to regulate morality: denounce immoral conduct, reflect societal values (reflects what is moral/immoral, i. e. stealing from others is immoral) Also define the limits of acceptable behaviour: forms the basis of the social contract . We all buy into a social contract, we each give some of our individual rights to max the rights of everybody: boundaries change over time, limited consensus of what should be crime. We would agree that the possession of marijuana, abortion, homosexuality, Also justify imprisonment/deprivation of liberty prostitution are crimes: we have crime, and if you have committed a crime, it provides a justification to penalize you. And protect society from harm: we criminalize things that are harmful. The question is, why is something considered crime. Formal social control: regulation (non-criminal offences, licencing, regulatory framework, etc)
