WDW101Y1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Mens Rea, Actus Reus, Weregild
Document Summary
The criminal law controls the formal definition & content of crime. The law defines the beh that society labels as criminal. Recognized in many early soc, eg preliterate: custom & tradition equivalent of law. - code of hammurabi = 1st written criminal law, babylonia, 2000 bc. Punishment based on phy retaliation an eye for an eye - lex talionis. Punishment depends on ur class & local officials must replace lost property if doesnt apprehend criminals. Mosaic code = israel, 12oo bc contract between god & tribes of israel in which they agreed to obey. The roman law made as a response to the lower classes who believed an unwritten code gave unlimited power to the wealthy. Dark ages, early formal legal codes lost. Wergild = medieval law, the money paid by offenders to compensate the victim & the state for a criminal offense. Monetary payments was the main punishment for crime.