Legal Jiu-Jitsu - Vol 1 - Ch 2.1 - Types of Law and Purpose of Criminal Law
Did you know that the "law" is not necessarily the "law"?
Chapter 2 talked about the purpose of Civil law (our common law). I neglected to talk about types of law and how they differ in that article so I'll be mixing it in.
Types of Law
When most people think about "the law" they don't tend to differentiate between types of law.
In the united States we have many types of law:
- Civil Law - rights, wrongs, and remedies
- Criminal Law -enforcing government edicts
- Maritime Law - the law of the high seas (international waters)
- International Law - countries having conflicts
- Private Law - corporate bylaws, etc.
There are many types of law but most people will only run into two of them: Civil and Criminal.
As noted previously Civil law deals with giving remedy to those who have been damaged without having to resort to bloodshed.
Criminal Law deals with forcing the will of a legislative body upon a particular group of people and subjecting them to penalties if they go against the legislations' edicts.
While some civil law torts are codified into criminal law edicts, many (most?) criminal laws attempt to make things that are perfectly lawful into illegal acts.
Legal and Lawful - Definitions
A lawful act is one that does not violate the common law. This means it does not cause damage to anyone else.
A legal act is one that does not go against the written will of a legislature.
An act can be both illegal and unlawful.
Acts such as murder, battery, etc. fall into this category. They are wrong in and of themselves.
An act can be legal but unlawful
Government theft of property, money, children, and land all fall into this category. Theft is a wrong in and of itself but a legislative body has claimed that they have the right to do these things anywise.
An act can be lawful but illegal
Having "too many" garage sales, selling baked goods from your home for money, building new structures on your own property without a permit, taking "illegal" drugs, crossing a street in "the wrong place", etc. are examples of lawful but illegal acts.
An act can be lawful and legal
Doing anything that does not harm anyone else (or violate a contract with someone else) which no legislature claiming to have power in your area has yet to prohibit.
As more legislation is passed fewer and fewer acts are both lawful and legal.
A non act can be illegal
Failing to do something that a group of men and women calling themselves a legislature claims you must do is illegal.
A non act can be unlawful
Failing to do something that a reasonably man or woman should have known to do which results in provable damage to someone else can be unlawful under a negligence tort.
The Purpose of Criminal Law
In the united States, criminal law deals strictly with enforcing the will of one or more legislatures upon those that are their subjects.
Criminal law has nothing to do with what is right or wrong and instead has everything to do with using force and the threat of force to prevent people from doing certain things and force them to do others.
This is why I maintain that Criminal Law would be more accurately named The Law of Legislative Criminals or perhaps just Legislative Edicts.
The goal is not to make injured parties whole but rather to control others forcibly and make money while doing so via fines, for profit jails, and a myriad of other costs to the people. The claimed goal is to penalize people so that they will think twice about doing the same thing again in the future.
By What Right?
Can it be said that a legislature has a right that no individual member of society has?
This is something worth considering when looking into criminal law. We will discuss it in volume 2 (and later volumes) when we get to criminal procedure.
That's Illegal!
The next time anyone tells you that something is illegal, against the law, unlawful, etc. you might stop and think for a moment to see if perhaps the one making such a claim is correct.
Once you understand that there are different types of law and you know the purposes of the types of law you are likely to encounter you can more easily know immediately what kind of process applies... and how to defend yourself and/or bring suit against others.
Other Chapters in Volume 1:
- Preface - You don't have any rights
- Ch 1 - Rights, Privileges, and Wrongs
- Ch 2 - The Purpose of Law
- Ch 3 - Standing on Your Rights
Coming up: The Right to Remain Silent
To see future chapters (and volumes) as I get their initial drafts done be sure to follow me: @tony.jennings
If you have questions, think I've gotten something wrong, etc. leave a comment!