Defining Crime: The Seven Basic Principles Of Criminal Law

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.When it comes to defining crime, criminal law has 7 basic principles to do so, which are, legality, human conduct, harm, causation, mens rea, concurrence and punishment requirement. Legality: "principle that every crime must be clearly defined by common law or legislation prior to its commission." (Alder et al, 2012, p.109) In other words, an individual cannot be held guilty for conduct that has not been legislated before the act was committed. Human conduct

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