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A criminal charge is a formal accusation made by a governmental authority (usually a public prosecutor or the police) asserting that somebody has committed a crime. A charging document, which contains one or more criminal charges or counts, can take several forms, including: complaint; information; indictment; citation; traffic ticket
The functional study of criminal justice is at times distinct from criminology, which involves the study of crime as a social phenomenon, causes of crime, criminal behavior, and other aspects of crime; although in most cases today, criminal justice as a field of study is used as a synonym for criminology and the sociology of law.
Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law is established by statute, which is to say that the laws are enacted by a legislature.
The term crime does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition, [2] though statutory definitions have been provided for certain purposes. [3] The most popular view is that crime is a category created by law; in other words, something is a crime if declared as such by the relevant and applicable law. [2]
Criminal law is distinguishable from tort law or contract law, for example, in that society as a whole is theoretically damaged. Beyond the particular victims, society as a whole is responsible for the case and in the event of a conviction, carrying out a sentence. Social harm is that part of the crime to be avoided.
The Self-Incrimination clause provides various protections against self-incrimination, including the right of an individual not to serve as a witness in a criminal case in which he or she is a defendant. "Pleading the Fifth" is a colloquial term often used to invoke the Self-Incrimination Clause when witnesses decline to answer questions where ...
DEFINITION: Generally speaking, a gag order is “a judicial ruling barring public disclosure or discussion (as by the press) of information related to a case,” according to Merriam-Webster.
Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law.While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail or incarcerated, and results in the conviction or acquittal of the defendant.