Procedures and Structures of Criminal Law

Abstract

Civil and criminal law are both concerned with liability for wrongful conduct. The same act (such as an assault) may amount both to a civil wrong, called a tort, and a crime. But whereas in the case of a tort, liability is owed to the injured party (and may result in an award of damages), in the case of a crime, liability is owed to the state (and may result in a punishment such as a fine or imprisonment). Liability is owed to the state even where the crime has a human victim, because a crime is regarded as a breach of public order. One of the ways in which England was united under the Crown in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries was by the enforcement of order (the King’s peace) by the King’s officials and judges. Serious infringements of order (called felonies) were offences against the Crown, and prosecutions were brought in the name of the King. This is still the case: serious offences are tried on indictment in the Crown Court, and the prosecution is in the name of the Crown. The prosecuting authority is called the Crown Prosecution Service, and the official title of the case will be for example, The Queen versus Smith, abbreviated to R. v. Smith, or even Smith.