The term criminal law , sometimes called penal law , refers to
any of various bodies of rules in different jurisdictions whose
common characteristic is the potential for unique and often
severe impositions as punishment for failure to comply. Criminal
punishment , depending on the offense , may include execution ,
loss of liberty , government supervision (parole ), or fines .
There are some archetypal crimes, like murder , but the acts
that are forbidden are not wholly consistent between different
criminal codes, and even within a particular code lines may be
blurred as civil infractions may give rise also to criminal
consequences. Criminal law typically is enforced by the
government , unlike the civil law , which may be enforced by
private parties. Criminal law history The first civilizations
generally did not distinguish between civil and criminal law.
The first written codes of law were produced by the Sumerians .
Around 2100-2050 BC Ur-Nammu , the Neo-Sumerian king of Ur ,
enacted the oldest written legal