Criminal Law

Criminal law is a branch of law that deals with the punishment of an offender for wrongs committed against society. The ‘wrong’ or crime can be an act (stealing) or an omission to act (failure to drive carefully) that the courts consider punishable so as to deter others from committing the offence. The courts will deal with such cases by sentencing the offender to a term of imprisonment or by imposing other forms of non-custodial sentences such as ordering the offender to pay a fine, serve a community service order, or to be placed on probation. It can thus be said that the purpose of criminal law is not only to protect societal interests but also to maintain and regulate societal conduct and behaviour. Who therefore bears this responsibility of protecting the public? It is the government; which is why it is the government that generally initiates criminal proceedings (prosecutes) in the courts. For example, in HKSAR v Wong, it is the Hong Kong government against the person charged, Wong, who is also known as the defendant in the case. Before a defendant can be convicted, it is the prosecutor’s duty to prove the defendant’s guilt ‘beyond reasonable doubt’. This is the standard of proof (see Kwan Ping Bong v R (1979) HKLR 1). If reasonable doubt is created in respect of any elements of the offence the defendant is charged with, the prosecution is said not to have made its case and the defendant will be acquitted. The standard of proof coupled with the presumption that a defendant is innocent unless proven guilty (presumption of innocence) imposes an onerous burden on the prosecutor.