CriminalLawl.GeneralIntroductionCriminallawisthebodyofthelawthatdefinescriminaloffenses,regulatestheapprehension,charging,andtrialofsuspectedoffenders,andfixespunishmentforconvictedpersons.Substantivecriminallawdefinesparticularcrimes,andprocedurallawestablishesrulesfortheprosecutionofcrime.Inademocraticsociety,itisthefunctionofthelegislativebodiestodecidewhatbehaviorwillbemadecriminalandwhatpenaltieswillbeattachedtoviolationsofthelaw.Capitalpunishmentmaybeimposedinsomejurisdictionsforthemostseriouscrimes.Andphysicalorcorporalpunishmentmaystillbeimposedsuchaswhippingorcaning,althoughthesepunishmentsareprohibitedinmuchoftheworld.Aconvictmaybeincarceratedinprisonorjailandthelengthofincarcerationmayvaryfromadaytolife.Criminallawisareflectionofthesocietythatproduceit.InanIslamictheocracy,suchasIran,criminallawwillreflectthereligiousteachingsoftheKoran;inanCatholiccountry,itwillreflectthetenetsofCatholicism.Inaddition,criminallawwillchangetoreflectchangesinsociety,especiallyattitudechanges.Forinstance,useofmarijuanawasonceconsideredaseriouscrimewithharshpenalties,whereastodaythepenaltiesinmoststatesarerelativelylight.Asseverityofthepenaltieswasreduced.Asasocietyadvances,itsjudgmentsaboutcrimeandpunishmentchange.2.ElementsofaCrimeObviously,differentcrimesrequiredifferentbehaviors,buttherearecommonelementsnecessaryforprovingallcrimes.First,theprohibitedbehaviordesignatedasacrimemustbeclearlydefinedsothatareasonablepersoncanbeforewarnedthatengaginginthatbehaviorisillegal.Second,theaccusedmustbeshowntohavepossessedtherequisiteintenttocommitthecrime.Third,thestatemustprovecausation.Finally,thestatemustprovebeyondareasonabledoubtthatthedefendantcommittedthecrime.actusreusThefirstelementofcrimeistheactusreus.Actusisanactoractionandreusisapersonjudiciallyaccusedofacrime.Therefore,actusreusisliterallytheactionofapersonaccusedofacrime.Acriminalstatutemustclearlydefineexactlywhatactisdeemed“guilty"---thatis,theexactbehaviorthatisbeingprohibited.Thatisdonesothatallpersonsareputonnoticethatiftheyperformtheguiltyact,theywillbeliableforcriminalpunishment.Unlesstheactusreusisclearlydefined,onemightnotknowwhetherornotoneesbehaviorisillegal.Actusreusmaybeaccomplishedbyanaction,bythreatofaction,orexceptionally,byanomissiontoact,whichisalegaldutytoact.Forexample,theactofCainstrikingAbelmightsuffice,oraparent,sfailuretogivetoayoungchildalsomayprovidetheactusreusforacrime.Wheretheactusreusisafailuretoact,theremustbeadutyofcare.Adutycanarisethroughcontract,avoluntaryundertaking,abloodrelation,andoccasionallythroughone,sofficialposition.Dutyalsocanarisefromone,sowncreationofadangeroussituation.mensreaAsecondelementofacrimeismensrea.Mensreareferstoanindividual,sstateofmindwhenacrimeiscommitted.Whileactusreusisprovenbyphysicaloreyewitnessevidence,mensreaismoredifficulttoascertain.Thejurymustdetermineforitselfwhethertheaccusedhadthenecessaryintenttocommittheact.Alowerthresholdofmensreaissatisfiedwhenadefendantrecognizesanactisdangerousbutdecidestocommititanyway.Thisisrecklessness.Forinstance,ifCaintearsagasmeterfromawall,andknowsthiswillletflammablegasescapeintoaneighbor，shouse,hecouldbeliableforpoisoning.Courtsoftenconsiderwhethertheactordidrecognisethedanger,oralternativelyoughttohaverecognizedadanger(thoughhedidnot)istantamounttoerasingintentasarequirement.Inthisway,theimportanceofmensreahasbeenreducedinsomeareasofthecriminallaw.Wrongfulnessofintentalsomayvarytheseriousnessofanoffense.Akillingcommittedwithspecificintenttokillorwithconsciousrecognitionthatdeathorseriousbodilyharmwillresult,wouldbemurder,whereasakillingaffectedbyrecklessactslackingsuchaconsciousnesscouldbemanslaughter.CausationThenextelementiscausation.Oftenthephrase“butfor”isusedtodeterminewhethercausationhasoccurred.Forexample,wemightsay“CaincausedAbel”,bywhichwereallymean“CaincausedAbel,sdeath.”Inotherwords,‘butforCain,sact,Abelwouldstillbealive.”Causation,then,means“butfor”theactionsofA,Bwouldnothavebeenharmed.Incriminallaw,causationisanelementthatmustbeprovenbeyondareasonabledoubt.ProofbeyondaReasonableDoubtInviewofthefactthatincriminalcaseswearedealingwiththelifeandlibertyoftheaccusedperson,aswellasthestigmaaccompanyingconviction,thelegalsystemplacesstronglimitsonthepowerofthestatetoconvictapersonofacrime.Criminaldefendantsarepresumedinnocent.Thestatemustovercomethispresumptionofinnocencebyprovingeveryelementoftheoffensechargedagainstthedefendantbeyondareasonabledoubttothesatisfactionofallthejurors.Thisrequirementistheprimarywayoursystemminimizestheriskofconvictinganinnocentperson.Thestatemustproveitscasewithinaframeworkofproceduralsafeguardsthataredesignedtoprotecttheaccused.Thestate'sfailuretoproveanymaterialelementofitscaseresultsintheaccusedbeingacquittedorfoundnotguilty,eventhoughheorshemayactuallyhavecommittedthecrimecharged.StrictLiabilityInmodernsociety,somecrimesrequirenomoremensrea,andtheyareknownasstrictliabilityoffenses.Forinstance,undertheRoadTrafficAct1988itisastrictliabilityoffencetodriveavehiclewithanalcoholconcentrationabovetheprescribedlimit.Strictliabilitycanbedescribedascriminalorcivilliabilitynotwithstandingthelackmensreaorintentbythedefendant.Notallcrimesrequirespecificintent,andthethresholdofculpabilityrequiredmaybereduced.Forexample,itmightbesufficienttoshowthatadefendantactednegligently,ratherthanintentionallyorrecklessly..概述刑法是規(guī)定什么試犯罪，有關(guān)犯罪嫌疑人之逮捕、起訴及審判，及對已決犯處以何種刑罰的部門法。刑事實(shí)體法是規(guī)定犯罪的法律，刑事程序法是規(guī)定刑事起訴規(guī)則的法律。在一個(gè)民主社會(huì)中，決定何種行為時(shí)犯罪行為且處以何種刑罰是立法機(jī)關(guān)的職能。在某些法域，死刑可能會(huì)被用于最嚴(yán)重的犯罪行為。而諸如鞭刑或者笞刑之類的身體刑或者肉刑仍可能被運(yùn)用，盡管世界上絕大多數(shù)國家和地區(qū)已經(jīng)廢止了這些刑罰。已決犯可能被處以監(jiān)禁刑，而刑期短則一天長則一生。刑法是制定該法律之社會(huì)的一面鏡子。在伊斯蘭教國家（如伊朗），刑法能反映出《古蘭經(jīng)》的教義；在天主教國家中，刑法可能反映天主教的教義。此外，刑法的內(nèi)容會(huì)不斷變化，以反映社會(huì)的變化，特別是社會(huì)觀點(diǎn)的變化。例如，吸食大麻曾經(jīng)被視為嚴(yán)重的犯罪行，曾被處以重罰，而今天，大多數(shù)國家對此行為的處罰相對較輕。隨著公眾對吸食大麻的容忍度的增加，處罰的嚴(yán)厲程度也隨之降低。隨著社會(huì)的發(fā)展，社會(huì)對犯罪行為的處決和處罰也會(huì)隨之改變。.犯罪構(gòu)成要件顯而易見的是，構(gòu)成犯罪的行為形式各異，但罪名的成立是要有一些共同的要件的。第一，犯罪行為必須是法律明文禁止的，如此，普通正常之人才會(huì)知道，從事什么樣的行為時(shí)犯法的。第二，檢方須證明被告人據(jù)有犯罪意圖。第三，檢方須證明因果關(guān)系的存在。最后，檢方證明被告人犯罪的證據(jù)須達(dá)到排除合理懷疑的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。（1）犯罪行為犯罪構(gòu)成的第一個(gè)要件是犯罪行為。Actus是指行動(dòng)或行為，reus是指被依法指控犯有某種罪行的人。因此，它們的字面意思是被指控犯罪之人的行為。任何一部刑事制定法都必須清楚且精確地規(guī)定什么樣的邪行為構(gòu)成犯罪，即到達(dá)什么樣的行為是被法律禁止的行為。如此，所以的人才得以知悉，如果實(shí)施了某一犯罪行為，他們將即會(huì)受到刑事處罰。除非法律明確規(guī)定了何種行為屬犯罪行為，否則誰都不可能知道某種行為是否犯法。行為人的某一積極作為、構(gòu)成威脅的行為或未能履行法定義務(wù)的不作為，均可構(gòu)成犯罪行為的要件。例如，該隱擊中亞伯的行為即足以構(gòu)成這一要件，家長未能向幼子提供食物的，亦可能構(gòu)成某一犯罪的要件。在不作為構(gòu)成犯罪行為的情況下，必須存在一個(gè)主意義務(wù)。這種義務(wù)可以產(chǎn)生于契約、自愿的承諾、血源關(guān)系，偶爾也產(chǎn)生于工作特性。該種義務(wù)也可能產(chǎn)生于某人自己造成的危險(xiǎn)狀況。（2）犯罪意圖犯罪構(gòu)成的第二個(gè)要件是犯罪意圖。犯罪意圖是指行為人犯罪時(shí)的心理狀態(tài)。犯罪行為可通過物證或者目擊證人來證明，而犯罪意圖則難以確定。陪審團(tuán)須獨(dú)立判斷被告人是否確有實(shí)施犯罪想的必要意圖。凡被告人認(rèn)識(shí)到行為的危險(xiǎn)性，但仍然決定去做這種行為的，即認(rèn)定其具有一種較低標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的犯罪意圖。此即為放任的心理狀態(tài)。例如，該隱從墻上將煤氣表扯下，并且知道這將使可燃的煤氣逸入鄰居的房間，則該隱可能要對造成的煤氣中毒承擔(dān)責(zé)任。法庭通常會(huì)考