Criminal code

Acriminal codeorpenal codeis a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of, a particular jurisdiction'scriminal law.Typically a criminal code will containoffencesthat are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that might be imposed for these offences, and some general provisions (such as definitions and prohibitions onretroactive prosecution).^[1]

Criminal codes are relatively common incivil lawjurisdictions, which tend to build legal systems around codes and principles which are relatively abstract and apply them on a case-by-case basis. Conversely they are not as common incommon lawjurisdictions.

The proposed introduction of a criminal code inEngland and Waleswas a significant project of theLaw Commissionfrom 1968 to 2008. Due to the strong tradition oflegal precedentin thejurisdictionand consequently the large number ofbinding legal judgementsand ambiguous 'common law offences', as well as the often inconsistent nature of English law,^{[citation needed]}the creation of a satisfactory code became very difficult. The project was officially abandoned in 2008 although as of 2009 it has been revived.^[2]

A statutory Criminal Law Codification Advisory Committee forIrish criminal lawmet from 2007 to 2010 and itsDraft Criminal Code and Commentarywas published in 2011.^[3]^[4]

In the United States, aModel Penal Codeexists which is not itself law but which provides the basis for the criminal law of many states. Individual states often choose to make use of criminal codes which are often based, to a varying extent, on the model code.^[5]Title 18 of the United States Codeis the criminal code for federal crimes.^[6]However, Title 18 does not contain many of the general provisions concerning criminal law that are found in the criminal codes of many so-called "civil law" countries.

Criminal codes are generally supported for their introduction of consistency to legal systems and for making the criminal law more accessible to laypeople.^[7]A code may help avoid achilling effectwherelegislationandcase lawappears to be either inaccessible or beyond comprehension to non-lawyers. Alternatively critics have argued that codes are too rigid and that they fail to provide enough flexibility for the law to be effective.^{[citation needed]}

Jurisdictions of many countries, such asAlgeria,Argentina,Australia,Austria,Brazil,Canada,Chile,China,Denmark,Egypt,Finland,France,Germany,India,Iran,Israel,Italy,Japan,South Korea,Mexico,theNetherlands,Norway,Pakistan,Poland,Russia,Saudi Arabia,South Africa,Spain,Switzerland,Thailand,Turkey,Ukraine,theUnited Kingdomand theUnited States,use different penal codes.^{[citation needed]}