'Criminal law is not static. The process of criminalization defines what behavior should or should not constitute a crime and we find that criminal acts evolve as values ​​and tensions in society change. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay To classify an act or omission as "criminal", it must violate the law and is generally an offense against the state, regardless of how the act or omission may also be punishable in matter civil. This is demonstrated in a case of medical negligence involving Mr. Mahesh Goel (a doctor) who mistakenly removed the only functioning kidney from the body of Mr. Graham Reeves, resulting in death. This would therefore be a case of involuntary manslaughter and medical negligence. Deviance and crime violate the norms and laws of societies. Some acts may be considered criminal and deviant and therefore may overlap. The opinions and views of society change and therefore the law changes. You can see this in the Sexual Offenses Act 1967 which replaced the old Same-Sex Male Relations Act. This was the result of the Wolfenden report. The report proposes that there "must remain an area of ​​private morality and immorality which, in short and crude terms, falls outside the scope of the law" and recommends that homosexual acts between two consenting adults should no longer be a criminal offence. This demonstrates how people's opinions can influence the law, supporting Lawrence Friedman's argument that Parliament does not direct the making of laws, but reacts based on public response and opinions. As seen in the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1977 and the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013. There are three main sources of criminal law. Common law is law created by judges who are not set out in statutes, developed through judicial precedent set by the courts. This is used in unusual cases where the outcome cannot be determined based on existing statutes or written rules of law. An example of a common law offense would be murder. Legislation is a law created by Parliament that must go through various stages to be passed into law. Unlike the Common Law, these offenses are defined in statutes such as the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Criminal Justice Act 1998. Rather than just a definition of the crime, the legislation has several sections in statutes setting out exceptions and measures to be taken. offenses to which the Act applies. Another source of criminal law would be the judge's interpretation of the crime. This is called statutory interpretation and is how judges interpret and apply the law using several rules to help them. This can be used to interpret difficult words and phrases in laws that have multiple meanings, such as in the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, where the law states that no person shall keep a dangerous wild animal except under the authority of a license granted in accordance with law. the provisions of this law by a local authority and it is then up to the judge to decide to interpret what a “dangerous wild animal” is. The decisions they make in this process are binding on lower courts. Proposals for new offenses such as banning smoking in public places following pressure group ASH, and proposals for the reform or abolition of existing offenses such as the most common Sexual Offenses Act of 1998.