• Five sources of criminal law are early legal codes, the common law, modern statutes, the Model Penal Code, and constitutional sources.

• One of the earliest known examples of a formal written legal code is the Code of Hammurabi.

• The so-called Twelve Tables was the first secular written legal code.

• Common law is “the law in common,” meaning that as one judge wrote down a decision and circulated it to other judges, consistency developed as they began to apply the same principles.

• The common law was not unique to any particular place; it was the law “in common” throughout England.

• Special law refers to the laws of specific villages and localities.

• The United States Code contains federal laws, and violations of its provisions can lead to federal prosecution.

• States have their own legal codes that define what is and is not criminal.

• Other units of government, such as counties and cities, often have their own ordinances that define legal and illegal behaviors.

• The Model Penal Code, developed by the American Law Institute, is a sample legal code that many states have adopted.

• States adopt their own penal codes, adopt the Model Penal Code, or adopt a combination of each.

• Constitutions are perhaps the most significant sources of law.

• Unlike penal codes, constitutions generally do not prohibit actions on the part of private citizens. Rather, constitutions generally place limits on government authority.
• The U.S. Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, is very influential in American criminal law.

Questions:-

1. Identify five sources of the criminal law.
2. What effect did early legal codes have on the modern criminal law?
3. What is the common law, and why is it important?
4. At what levels of government are modern statutes found?
5. What are the constitutional sources of the criminal law?
6. Which source of the criminal law is the most influential?
Why?