Criminal Law

What is the Law?

• A body of enforceable rules governing:
  • relationships among individuals
  • relationships between individuals and their government/society as a whole

Sources of Law

• There are four primary sources of law today in the United States:
  • Constitutional law
  • Statutory law
  • Administrative law
  • Case law

Constitutional law

• Sets forth the fundamental rights of the people living within the United States or a given state.
• Describes and empowers the various branches of government.
• Sets forth limitations on that power.
• Federalism and the Supremacy Clause.

Statutory law

• Enacted by the United States Congress or the legislature of a given state.
• Also includes ordinances of a City.
• Many statutory laws are Uniform Codes adopted in the same form by all states.

Administrative law

• Rules, regulations, orders and decisions created by government agencies.
• Creation of Agencies (Enabling legislation).

Administrative law (continued)

• Rulemaking promulgated by federal, state, and local regulatory agencies.
• Published weekly in Federal Register and Texas Register.
• Investigation and Enforcement
• Adjudication
• Oversight

Case Law (Common Law)

• Body of judicial decisions that interpret and enforce the different laws and rule on disputes between different parties.
• Precedent ("Stare Decisis") - the authority afforded to a prior judicial decision in deciding subsequent disputes involving the same or similar facts.

Common Law and Civil Law

• Common Law Systems – Recognize the precedential value of prior judicial decisions, which provide binding authority in subsequent disputes.
• Doctrine of “stare decisis” – Found in the United States, the United Kingdom, and most of their former colonies or possessions.

Law and Equity

• From their origin in the late-Eleventh Century, common-law courts were typically classified as either “courts of law” or “courts of equity.”

Law and Equity (continued)

• Courts of Law were empowered only to award wronged parties monetary compensation for injuries or other losses.
• Courts of Equity were empowered to award any manner of non-monetary relief, such as ordering a person to do something or to cease doing something.
• Merger of Courts in U.S. legal system.

Common Law and Civil Law (summary)

• Civil Law Systems Based primarily on statutory or codified law.
  • Found in most of continental Europe, Mexico and South America

Substantive vs. Procedural Law

• Substantive Law - creates, defines, describes, and regulates legal rights and obligations.
• Procedural Law - establishes the methods of enforcing the rights established by substantive law.

Civil and Criminal Law

• Civil Law - deals with defining and enforcing the obligations of different persons to one another.
• Criminal Law - deals with defining and enforcing the obligations of persons to society as a whole.