Chapter 4 Terms in Bold Flashcards
An ancient code instituted by a ruler of Babylonia dealing with criminal and civil matters.
Code of Hammurabi
“Great Charter”; a guarantee of liberties signed by King John of England in 1215 that influenced many modern legal and constitutional principles.
Magna Carta
A writ issued to bring a party before the court.
Habeas Corpus
Laws that are based on customs and general principles and that may be used as precedent or for matters not addressed by statute.
Common Law
The type of law that is enacted by legislatures, as opposed to common law.
Statutory Law
A prior legal decision used as basis for deciding a later, similar case.
Precedent
The doctrine under which courts adhere to legal precedent.
Stare Decisis
A law enacted by legislature.
Statute
A code of laws that deals with crimes and the punishments for them.
Penal Code
The published decisions of courts that create new interpretations of the law and can be cited as precedent.
Case Law
This specifies the prosecution by the government of a person or people for an act that has been classified as a criminal offense.
Criminal Law
The law that governs private rights as opposed to the law that governs criminal issues.
Civil Law
Area of the law that deals with civil acts that cause harm or injury, including libel, assault, slander, trespass, or negligence.
Tort Law
Prosecution in the same jurisdiction of a defendant for an offense for which the defendant has already been prosecuted and convicted or acquitted.
Double Jeopardy
Law that tells us which behaviors have been defined as criminal offenses.
Substantive Law
Law that specifies how the criminal justice system is allowed to deal with those who break the law.
Procedural Law
An offense composed of acts necessary to commit another offense.
Inchoate Offense
The physical action of a criminal offense – “Guilty Deed”
Actus Reus
Intent or knowledge to break the law – “Guilty Mind”
Mens Rea
The coexistence of actus reus and mens rea
Concurrence
The criminal offense – “Body of the Crime”
Corpus Delicti
Responsibility for a criminal offense without intention to break the law.
Strict Liability
Defense that involves the defendant(s) claiming not to have been at the scene of a criminal offense when it was committed.
Alibi
A defense that attempts to give physical or psychological reasons that a defendant cannot comprehend his or her criminal actions, their harm(s), or their punishment.
Insanity Defense
