Ethics In Criminal Justice Essay

654 Words3 Pages

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There are a ton of things in this world that you shouldn't do, however not every one of them are violations, in the legal system just things that are defined by statute as criminal can be punished. The principle can be varyingly expressed in Latin phrases such as nullum crimen, nulla puena, sine praevia lege poenali (which mean no crime can be committed, nor punishment imposed without a pre- existing law), nulla poena sine lege ( no penalty without law), and nullum crimen sine lege ( no crime without law). In criminal law, the principle of legality is designed to guarantee the primacy of the law in criminal procedure, so that neither state prosecution nor defendants are exposed to arbitrary bias. Arbitrary bias meaning subject to individual will or judgement without restriction; contingent solely upon one’s discretion decided by a judge or arbiter rather than by a law or statute. In essence, the principle of legality means that criminal liability and punishment should be based upon a prior enactment of a prohibition that is expressed with an adequate precision and clarity. …show more content…

This implies an individual can’t be indicted of a wrongdoing that has never been openly declared, or by a law that is not clear, or by a corrective law that is passed retroactively to criminalize an activity that was not criminal at the time it happened. It expects the judges to constantly be n favour of the defendant when they interpret statutes and restricts articulation of blame without clear and reasonable avocation for this sentence. The principle is often connected with the attempts to oblige states, governments, legal and administrative bodies from authorizing on retroactive legislation or ex post facto clauses, and guaranteeing that all criminal conduct is criminalized and all disciplines established the initiation of any criminal