In this chapter we examine a key justification of punishment, namely utilitarianism, which focuses on the consequences or outcomes of sentencing and punishment. The origins of this approach in the work of Beccaria and Bentham, and its modern expression in the work of writers such as Wilson and Kennedy, will be discussed. We will focus here on the specific outcome of deterrence, considering whether punishment is effective in reducing offending, reviewing the available research on issues including the certainty and severity of punishment. The methodological problems which arise in proving a deterrent effect are reviewed, including in relation to the death penalty. The problems with this justification for punishment are also examined.
Chapter
This chapter examines the utilitarian justification for punishment: an approach that focuses on the consequences or outcomes of sentencing and punishment. It discusses the origins of this approach in the work of Beccaria and Bentham, and its modern expression in the work of writers such as Wilson and Kennedy. Focusing on the specific outcome of deterrence, the chapter begins by reviewing its role in current sentencing practice and policy. It later considers whether punishment is effective in reducing offending, and reviews the available research and the problems that arise in establishing a deterrent effect. It also considers some of the difficulties with the utilitarian justification for punishment.
Chapter
Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams, and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. In civil law, tort provides remedy for a party who has suffered the breach of a protected interest. Tort law protects a wide range of interests. Currently, negligence is the greatest source of litigation with respect to tort. Torts of trespass to the person protect physical safety while trespass to property governs the ownership of property. The tort of defamation provides remedies for threats to one’s reputation. Another tort-related area deals with the protection of privacy from media intrusion. This chapter discusses the range of activity to which tort law applies and the types of harm for which it provides compensation. It also considers the main interests protected by the law of tort, how the law of tort differs from other branches of the law, and the role of policy and the human rights dimension in the law of tort.
Chapter
This chapter provides an overview of tort law. It explains that tort law is a branch of the law of obligations which imposes liability for the breach of norms of conduct based on the type of interest at stake and/or the degree of fault present in the defendant. It provides a brief history of tort law. It then moves on to discuss the rights and interests protected by tort law. The chapter considers also theoretical perspectives on tort law. These concern such things as the bases of tortious liability and the issue of whether tort law should serve individual (eg, corrective justice) or social (eg, deterrence) goals.
Chapter
1. Tort and the tort system
General overview
Tort is the area of civil law which provides a remedy for a party who has suffered the breach of a protected interest. Different torts deal with different types of harm or wrongful conduct and the ‘ingredients’ for each of these torts are different; each with its own particular characteristics. This chapter discusses the types of loss or harm covered; competing interests; remedies; comparison of tort with contract law, criminal law, and human rights law; the aims of the law of tort (compensation and deterrence); and alternative routes to compensation. The influence of insurance and of the Compensation Act 2006 is included.
Chapter
This introductory chapter begins by providing examples of torts. It then discusses the aims of the law of torts, the most significant being compensation and deterrence. Part of the justification for a tort is that it identifies what actions should be avoided and deters people from engaging in them. It is essential to know that action is wrongful, but a tort action may over-deter or under-deter. It may over-deter where the perception of the chance of liability is exaggerated. It may under-deter where either the chances of somebody suing to enforce their rights are small, or where the consequences to the individual tortfeasor may be slight. Originally tort was about ‘shifting’ or ‘transferring’ the loss from the victim to the defendant (corrective justice). The defendant themselves paid compensation to the victim. However, those days are gone and we are now in an era of ‘loss distribution’. In other words, it is not the defendant himself who pays, but it will be their, or their employer’s, insurer. The chapter then considers the study of torts. Tort law is almost wholly a case-driven subject and therefore a good knowledge of the cases and what they stand for is essential. The chapter presents three steps to studying cases.
Chapter
Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. Questions, diagrams, and exercises help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress. In civil law, tort provides remedy for a party who has suffered the breach of a protected interest. Tort law protects a wide range of interests. Currently, negligence is the greatest source of litigation with respect to tort. Torts of trespass to the person protect physical safety while trespass to property governs the ownership of property. The tort of defamation provides remedies for threats to one’s reputation. Another tort-related area deals with the protection of privacy from media intrusion. This chapter discusses the range of activity to which tort law applies and the types of harm for which it provides compensation. It also considers the main interests protected by the law of tort, how the law of tort differs from other branches of the law, and the role of policy and the human rights dimension in the law of tort.
Chapter
Per-Olof H. Wikström
This chapter analyses and explains acts of crimes as moral actions (i.e., actions guided by what is the right or wrong thing to do) within an analytical criminology framework. It outlines some common problems of current mainstream criminological theorizing and research, such as the lack of a shared definition of crime, the poor integration of knowledge about the role of people and places in crime causation, the frequent confusion of causes and correlates, and the lack of an adequate action theory, and proposes a more analytical criminology as the remedy. The chapter introduces Situational Action Theory (SAT), a general, dynamic, and mechanism-based theory about crime and its causes, designed to address these problems and provide a foundation for an analytical criminology. It concludes by briefly discussing main implications for the future direction of policy and prevention.
