criminal code

{{Short description|Document that compiles a particular jurisdiction's criminal law}}

{{About|law enforcement procedures|the 1931 film|The Criminal Code|the Italian criminal code of honor|Omertà}}

{{redirect|Penal code|the 1932 film|The Penal Code}}

{{mi|

{{globalize|date=September 2022}}

{{Refimprove|date=December 2009}}

}}

A criminal code or penal code is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of, a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that might be imposed for these offences, and some general provisions (such as definitions and prohibitions on retroactive prosecution).{{cite web|title=French Penal Code (ToC)|url=http://195.83.177.9/upl/pdf/table_33.pdf|publisher=LegiFrance (Eng translation)|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704025812/http://195.83.177.9/upl/pdf/table_33.pdf|archive-date=2011-07-04}}

Criminal codes are relatively common in civil law jurisdictions, 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 in common law jurisdictions. Where a jurisdiction is a federation, the subnational units of such jurisdiction may or may not use separate penal codes. For example, in India, the entire country (the federal government, states, and union territories) all operate under one criminal code, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and in Canada the process is roughly the same, with the entire country being subject to a single criminal code. However, in Australia, the federal government and the states operate under different criminal codes (for instance, New South Wales would not necessarily use the federal criminal code, but rather, its own criminal code.)

The proposed introduction of a criminal code in England and Wales was a significant project of the Law Commission from 1968 to 2008. Due to the strong tradition of legal precedent in the jurisdiction and consequently the large number of binding legal judgements and ambiguous 'common law offences', as well as the often inconsistent nature of English law,{{cn|date=July 2019}} the creation of a satisfactory code became very difficult. The project was officially abandoned in 2008 although as of 2009 it has been revived.{{cite web|title=Newsletter|url=http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/docs/newsletter_spring_2009.pdf|publisher=Law Commission|url-status=dead|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090416025930/http%3A//www.lawcom.gov.uk/docs/newsletter_spring_2009.pdf|archive-date=2009-04-16}}

A statutory Criminal Law Codification Advisory Committee for Irish criminal law met from 2007 to 2010 and its Draft Criminal Code and Commentary was published in 2011.{{cite press release |title=Minister Shatter publishes draft Criminal Code prepared by the Criminal Law Codification Advisory Committee |url=http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/PR11000096 |publisher=Department of Justice and Equality |access-date=27 October 2018 |language=en |date=23 June 2011}}{{cite web |title=Draft Criminal Code and Commentary |date=31 May 2010 |url=http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/DC-04%20Draft%20Criminal%20Code%20and%20Commentary%2031%20May%202010.pdf/Files/DC-04%20Draft%20Criminal%20Code%20and%20Commentary%2031%20May%202010.pdf |format=PDF |publisher=Department of Justice and Equality |location=Dublin |author=Criminal Law Codification Advisory Committee |access-date=27 October 2018 |language=en}}

In the United States, a Model Penal Code exists 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.{{cite web|last=Robinson |first=Paul |title=Introduction to the Model Penal Code |url=https://www.law.upenn.edu/fac/phrobins/intromodpencode.pdf |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001952/https://www.law.upenn.edu/fac/phrobins/intromodpencode.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-04 }} Title 18 of the United States Code is the criminal code for federal crimes.{{cite web|title=United States Code (Title 18)|url=http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/usc.cgi?ACTION=BROWSE&title=18usc&PDFS=YES|publisher=GPO}} 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.{{cite web|title=Law Commission|url=http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/codification.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070724004724/http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/codification.htm|archive-date=2007-07-24}} A code may help avoid a chilling effect where legislation and case law appears 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.{{cn|date=September 2023}}

Jurisdictions of many countries, such as Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States, use different penal codes.{{cn|date=September 2023}}