Crime violates the laws of community, state or nation. It is punishable in accordance with these laws. The definition of crime varies according to time and place, but the laws of most countries consider as crimes such offences as arson, bigamy, burglary, forgery, murder, and treason.
Not all offences against the law are crimes. The laws that set down the punishments for crimes form the criminal law. This law defines as crimes those offences considered most harmful to the community. On the other hand, a person may wrong someone else in some other way that offends the civil law. The common law recognizes three classes of crime: treason, felony, and misdemenour. Death or life imprisonment is the usual penalty for treason. Laws in the USA, for example, define a felony as a crime that is punishable by a term of one year or more in a state or federal prison. A person who commits a misdemenour may be punished by a fine or a jail term of less one year.
Содержанию текста соответствуют утверждения …