According to the Oxford Compact English Dictionary, law is, "a rule or system of rules recognized by a country or community as regulating the actions of its members and enforced by the imposition of penalties". Law can be classified in two ways, firstly, civil law and criminal law; and secondly by the legal sources of law. There are several sources of law including The Constitution, Case Law, Legislation and Customs. This paper will discuss and outline the various classifications of law.
Criminal law is an offence that is regarded as being against society. This indicates that a person commits a crime that is against morality or social order such as murder of manslaughter. According to Helen J. Bond and Peter Kay, authors of Business Law, criminal cases are cases that are called prosecutions and they are initiated in the name of the State and on behalf of the nation to protect individuals.
Criminal Law (film)
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2008_12_13_commons_panel_03However, in the Bahamas, a criminal case is initiated in the name of the Attorney General, the Queen or the Commissioner of Police. In addition, prosecution is successful if the accused is found guilty and is liable for punishment which maybe a community sentence, fine or imprisonment. However, if the prosecution is unsuccessful then the accused is acquitted. An example of a criminal case would be the case of John Higgs versus the Attorney General. In this case a crime was committed against society because Higgs had killed his wife with the intentions of trying to keep the murder undercover. This case is classified under criminal law because the case occurred in the name of the Attorney General of the Bahamas and tried in the Supreme Court. Because there is no distinction made between where criminal and civil cases are heard in The Bahamas as compared to...