What is the Purpose of Criminal Law?

What is the purpose of criminal law? Criminal law is a branch of law that concerns itself with offenses against public authority. Therefore, criminal law has two purposes: to express a society’s morality and to set boundaries. Criminal law seeks to make the members of society accountable for their intentional violations of these mores by levying penalties for infractions, such as fines or imprisonment. These crimes are considered to have been committed against the state or the public, making criminal law distinct from civil law, which concerns itself with crimes people commit against each other. As such, while an individual can file a civil suit, they generally cannot file a criminal prosecution and must prevail upon state authority – such as the district attorney’s office – to file one.

There are five objectives to consider when asking what is the purpose of criminal law, namely: retribution, or making the criminal suffer for their crime; deterrence, or ensuring that the law will not only discourage a specific defendant but also other individuals from committing the same act; incapacitation, or separating the criminal from society in general by incarcerating them; rehabilitation, or ensuring that the guilty party will not commit criminal offenses again and will become a productive member of society; and restitution or ensuring that the offender compensates the victim or their families for any hurt or damage inflicted upon them.

Questions of responsibility are also important when considering what is the purpose of criminal law. One of the most significant aspects of criminal law is mens rea or "guilty mind”. This means that the intention of the accused party is taken into account when considering criminal responsibility. For example, if a child accidentally hurts another child, they will not be charged criminally since they cannot be said to have intentionally inflicted harm. A hunter who shoots another hunter by mistake because they not wearing bright clothing may also have limited criminal responsibility since the shooting was not intentional.