criminal law
noun
: the law of crimes and their punishments
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web But nothing in the text of the Constitution says lawmakers may use ordinary criminal law to do so. 
Charlie Savage, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Aug. 2022 Michigan criminal law indicates a person can be charged with and convicted of raping their spouse. Dave Boucher, Detroit Free Press, 21 June 2022 Jenny Carroll, a professor of criminal law at the University of Alabama School of Law, said the laws around child abuse and manslaughter can apply to people who failed to take actions to protect their children. al, 22 May 2022 For so long, our system of criminal law has been grounded in a facade of neutrality that assumes: There are laws, there are enforcers of the laws, and there are people who break or follow those laws. Premal Dharia, CNN, 8 Apr. 2022 Reich also said the labor department’s Wage and Hour Division is training investigators to become better at spotting indicators of human trafficking and referring cases to criminal law enforcement agencies. Maria Perez, USA TODAY, 4 Mar. 2022 One in particular inspired Rosenthal to abandon his 30-year family and criminal law practice to go into animal law full time. BostonGlobe.com, 30 July 2022 Under what has become the legal standard, the witness has to be facing a genuine risk of criminal prosecution, said Paul Cassell, a criminal law professor at the University of Utah. Jennifer Peltz, ajc, 14 July 2022 Our system, the person who's in charge of the administration of the criminal law, is a politically accountable official, and an official has to be politically accountable. NBC News, 13 Mar. 2022 See More
Charlie Savage, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Aug. 2022 Michigan criminal law indicates a person can be charged with and convicted of raping their spouse. Dave Boucher, Detroit Free Press, 21 June 2022 Jenny Carroll, a professor of criminal law at the University of Alabama School of Law, said the laws around child abuse and manslaughter can apply to people who failed to take actions to protect their children. al, 22 May 2022 For so long, our system of criminal law has been grounded in a facade of neutrality that assumes: There are laws, there are enforcers of the laws, and there are people who break or follow those laws. Premal Dharia, CNN, 8 Apr. 2022 Reich also said the labor department’s Wage and Hour Division is training investigators to become better at spotting indicators of human trafficking and referring cases to criminal law enforcement agencies. Maria Perez, USA TODAY, 4 Mar. 2022 One in particular inspired Rosenthal to abandon his 30-year family and criminal law practice to go into animal law full time. BostonGlobe.com, 30 July 2022 Under what has become the legal standard, the witness has to be facing a genuine risk of criminal prosecution, said Paul Cassell, a criminal law professor at the University of Utah. Jennifer Peltz, ajc, 14 July 2022 Our system, the person who's in charge of the administration of the criminal law, is a politically accountable official, and an official has to be politically accountable. NBC News, 13 Mar. 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
1672, in the meaning defined above
Legal Definition
criminal law
noun
: public law that deals with crimes and their prosecution compare civil law
Note: Substantive criminal law defines crimes, and procedural criminal law sets down criminal procedure. Substantive criminal law was originally common law for the most part. It was later codified and is now found in federal and state statutory law.