(Lanka-e-News -29.Dec.2011, 7.30PM) “Law is a system of rules imposed by the supreme authority in a politically organised society and recognised by the members of that society as governing or regulating their conduct or intercourse, one with another”. Professor Jenks. Professor Glanville Williams defines a “crime” in the following terms “A crime (or offence) is a legal wrong that can be followed by criminal proceedings which may result in punishment”.
Normally the combination of two factors is to be found in the decision to treat a certain class of conduct as criminal. The first is what may be termed the publicness of the conduct. Normally an act will only be labelled as a crime if it is thought to be more than an offence against one or more individuals. It must be injurious to the public in general. Of course all private injuries if they become sufficiently widespread become detrimental to the public. Nonetheless, the element of punishment seems to be an important aspect of any justification for treating conduct as criminal.
