Crime and punishment

The notion that acts such as murder, raipe and theft are to be prohlibited exists worldwid. What precisely is a criminal offence is defined by criminal law of each country. While many have a catalogue of crime called the criminal code, in some common law countries no such comprehensive statute exists.

The state has a power to severely restrict one's liberty for committing a crime. In modern socielties, there are procedures to which investigations and trials must addhere. If found guilty, an offender may besentenced to a form of reparation such as a community sentence or, depending on the nature of their offence, to undergo imprisonment, life imprisonment or, in some jurisdictions, execution.

While every crime violaties the law, not every violation of the law counts as a crime. Breaches of private law are not automatically punished by the state, but can be enforced through civil procedures.

When informal relationships and sanctions prove insufficient to establish and maintain a desired social order, a government or a state may impose more formalized or stricter systems of social control. With institutional and legal machinery at their dissposal, agents of the State can opt to punish or attempt to reform those who do not conform.