StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Developments in Criminal Law - Essay Example

Summary
The paper "Developments in Criminal Law" highlights that although there are existing laws against the crimes, attempts to address cyber crimes in the law are prevented by the rate at which technology changes compared to the speed at which laws are created or revised…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER96.6% of users find it useful

Extract of sample "Developments in Criminal Law"

DEVELOPMENTS IN CRIMINAL LAW Cyber Crimes 1. Introduction The yearly cost of computer crimes to Americans alone was reported to be approximately $500 million and $10 billion per annum thus it is predictable that criminals have taken computers, as a new opportunity for crime. Moreover, access to computers and networks is inexpensive, hard to trace and the figures above seems extremely inspiring. Cyber crimes put forward sizeable dilemma for prosecutors as distinguishing offenders, production of evidence is correspondingly problematic, and the worldwide scope of the Internet intensifies jurisdiction problems. However, legislatures are beginning to close the gaps with new laws and because cyber crimes is an area of ongoing changes, continue to check statutes for factors that might affect computers as targets, as tools, and as incidental factors in crime. The objective of this report is to discuss critically the developments in criminal law in addressing cyber threats and other criminal acts online. It will cover traditional laws and computer-assisted crimes, cyber terrorism, bullying, stalking, effective legislations, and the significance of understanding the technical issues of cyber crimes in drafting a law. 2. Developments in Criminal Law 2.1 Traditional and Computer Assisted Offenses “Criminal law is a stagnant creature of the past, unable to adequately cope with the demands of a modern, technological society”. There is no argument that traditional offenses against the person such as homicide or inflicting bodily harm, if perpetrated by computer-assisted means such as hacking into a hospital system and modifying a patient’s prescribed medication to a fatal amount could be efficiently prosecuted under existing criminal laws. Correspondingly, there are particular laws in several jurisdictions prohibiting the endangerment of life by intruding with the guidance or control of aircraft or other forms of transport. There are also laws barring the communication of threats, harassment or stalking activity, though it should be recognized that a number of of these kind of offenses against the person have only recently taken discrete statutory form as offenses distinct from assaults. One chronic problem with common assault in some jurisdiction according to Smith et. al. (2004, p.88), has been the requisite of an apprehension of direct physical harm on the part of the injured party, so that tenuously communicated threats of violence have not always be adequate. By comparison, threats communicated through electronic communication maybe very hard to prosecute as assaults, whilst they may also fall outside the scope of older statutory provisions dealing with documents containing threats. However, in order to evade related intricacies linked to harassment and stalking, some modern legislation has purposely incorporated reference to computer and e-mail misuse. 2.2 Cyber Crimes and the Law It is obvious that the development of Internet commerce has produced unparalleled potential for long-distance fraud and theft. Moreover, whether for monetary benefit or for other grounds, intentional intrusion in the form computer ‘hacking’ and destruction of electronic data, propagation of computer viruses, and disruption of services can all be quickly recognized under existing criminal offences, subject to sizeable evidentiary and jurisdictional intricacies in the case of cross-border crimes (Smith et. al. 2004, p.89). “Attempts to address cyber crimes in the law are thwarted by the speed at which technology changes compared to the rate at which laws are created or revised” (Reyes et. al. 2007, p.4). Because cyber crimes is so fresh, existing laws are at times insufficient to deal with the problem thus legislation must be drafted to guard the public from this new breed of cyber criminals. For this reason, the United States made the Identity Theft and Assumption Act of 1998 in to a law and federal prosecutors are making considerable use of the statute to prosecute cyber criminals (Siegel 2005, p.308). In Australia for instance, criminal law is not primarily a federal responsibility. According to Broadhurst and Grabosky (2005, p.145), each of the nine jurisdictions in Australia such the Commonwealth, six States and two territories, have the power to legislate in this area. The Commonwealth has power to make laws to protect its own computers and data. Similarly, every jurisdiction in Australia has enacted computer offences. A further movement towards a national approach is the control of the Internet and its role in federalizing criminal jurisdiction. The new offenses in the Cyber-crime Act 2001 for instance, apply to all activities involving Commonwealth data computers or use of telecommunication service. Resembling anti-virus programs in computers, laws against computer crimes are also updating. There have been distinct changes in legal methods since the 1980s because it was becoming evident that the criminal law was having trouble keeping up with modern technology. This was because the criminal law found it hard to integrate computer data within its traditional conception of ‘property’. Even where the hacker went beyond simple access or copying, and caused damage to data or computer systems, it was not apparent that the behavior constituted criminal damage, an offense, which traditionally is limited to damage to ‘tangible’ property. For this reason, the first set of legislative responses had begun as early as 1983 (Broadhurst and Grabosky 2005, p.147). In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the United States came up with a number of computer-related crime laws that can be use to charge under at least 40 different federal laws. These includes the Copyright Act and Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the National Stolen Property Act, the mail and wire fraud statutes, the Electronic Communications Decency Act of 1996, the Child Online Protection Act, the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996, and the Internet False Identification Prevention Act of 2000 (Siegel 2005, p.308). 2.3 The Need for Effective Legislation and Understanding of Technical Issues By requirement, the fight against cyber crime must engage more than just the police. Legislation must make suitable laws. However, enforcing, prosecuting, and interpreting cyber crime laws are also a predicament due to the lack of technical knowledge on the part of the group who are responsible with these functions. Legislators, generally, according to Shinder and Cross (2008, p. 30), do not have an actual perception of the technical concerns and what is or is not advantageous or even achievable to legislate. “Prevalence of cyber crimes lack clarification as to what it is that is particularly ‘cyber‘about them (Wall 2007, p.9). This is because when cases of cyber crime come to court they frequently have the familiar ring of the ‘traditional’ rather than the ‘cyber’ about them. These include classic offenses such as hacking, fraud, pornography, pedophilia and so forth, which are already part of existing criminal justice regimes. Conceivably more confusing Wall (2007, p.9) added is the distinction between the many hundreds of thousands of incidents that are purportedly reported each year and the comparatively diminutive figure of known prosecutions. Enhancing punishment for a crime because the offender uses a particular tool or new technology is nothing new in criminal law. Griset and Mahan (2002, p.270) explains that existing law enhances punishment when a crime involves an aircraft, automatic weapons, or the use of a telecommunication system. However, threats and other online crimes carried out by terrorists and other groups are considerably diverse because of the omnipresent character of the Web. Threat revealing private information transmitted over the Internet, for instance, not only can frighten its target but can also be a criminal solicitation to others unknown, inclusive with substantial information that aids in the proposed crime’s commission. Cyber stalking on the other hand refers to pestering on the Internet using different modes of transmission such as electronic mail, chat rooms, newsgroups, mail exploders, and the World Wide Web. It can also be referred to as an extension of the physical form of stalking where electronic means such as the Internet are used to pursue, harass or contact another in a spontaneous manner (Bocij 2004, p.9). However, noticeably few stalking fatalities contact the police for help and one explanation is that a number of people may not consider that what they are going through is a crime. According to Bocij (2004, p.9) this reaction is almost undoubtedly due to a lack of education concerning individual rights and anti-stalking legislation. Moreover, countless victims believed that the police are unlikely to help them for different reasons, such as not being familiar with anti-stalking laws or because of insufficiencies in the law. Cyber bullying involves a child or a teenager intimidating, threatening, or otherwise tormenting his or her peers using Internet technology (Shinder and Cross 2008). Cyber threats such as this can be tough to handle both emotionally for victims and legally for law enforcement officials. Conn (2002, p.169) explains that the law will normally recognize a threat as realistic or as a ‘true threat’ only if carried out in person or straight to an individual. Bullies and stalkers, predominantly cyber bullies and cyber stalkers, in general, do not straightforwardly terrorize their victims as they engage in a pattern of repeated behaviors that, in most circumstances, made the victim feel endangered. A good example Conn (2002) added is the Jake Baker case, a University of Michigan student who essentially named a female university classmate online as a woman he wanted to rape, mutilate, and murder. However, when law enforcement officials tried to take legal action against him, he evaded criminal prosecution by persuading the court that his explicit descriptions of rape and torment of his female classmate and other young women were not ‘true threats’. The case of Jake Baker demonstrates how complicated it may be to prove that a cyber threat is a true threat for which the person responsible for will be held responsible under the law. Finally, this also proves that our existing criminal law is a stagnant creature of the past and inappropriate in addressing the new breed of technological criminal offenses. 3. Conclusion Computer crimes present significant problems for law enforcement as identification of offenders, jurisdiction, and gathering evidence are relatively complex. Although there are existing laws against these crimes, attempts to address cyber crimes in the law are prevented by the rate at which technology changes compared to the speed at which laws are created or revised. Moreover, since cyber crimes is new, existing laws are helpless thus new legislation specifically addressing these crimes must be enacted to ensure public safety. The struggle against cyber crimes needs appropriate laws to help the police clearly identify and prosecute offenders. Threats and other online crimes are extensively complex as the Web thus enforcing and interpreting cyber crime laws requires technical knowledge on the part of the legislators as real understanding of the technical issues helps in identifying which is desirable or possible to legislate. Our present criminal law is therefore not enough and must be constantly improve in tune with the rapid technological development. 4. Reference List Bocij Paul, 2004, Cyberstalking: Harassment in the Internet Age and how to Protect Your Family, Published by Greenwood Publishing Group, U.S.A. Broadhurst Roderic and Grabosky, Peter, 2005, Cyber-crime: The Challenge in Asia, Published by Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong Conn Kathleen, 2002, Bullying and Harassment, Published by ASCD, U.S.A Griset Pamala and Mahan Sue, 2002, Terrorism in Perspective, Published by SAGE, U.S.A. Reyes Anthony, Brittson Richard, and O’Shea Kevin and Steel Jim, 2007, Cyber Crime Investigations: Bridging the Gaps Between Security Professionals, Law Enforcement, and Prosecutors, Published by Syngress, U.K. Shinder Debra Littlejohn and Cross Michael, 2008, Scene of the Cybercrime, Published by Syngress, U.K. Siegel Larry J., 2004, Criminology: The Core, Published by Thomson Wadsworth, U.S.A. Smith Russell G., Grabosky Peter N., and Urbas Gregor, 2004, Cyber Criminals on Trial, Published by Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom Wall David, 2007, Cybercrime: The Transformation of Crime in the Information Age, Published by Polity, U.S.A. Read More

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Developments in Criminal Law

Paranoid Personality Case Analysis

It is used interchangeably with the term felony, violation or infraction by the criminal law of other countries.... he Concept of Crime and Criminal LiabilityIn almost all criminal laws, crime is defined as an act or omission in violation of an established law of the place where the crime was committed.... In order for an act or omission to be considered as a crime, there must be a law punishing that act or requiring a person to perform such lawful duty....
8 Pages (2000 words) Case Study

Emerging Issues in Criminal Justice

Known as NDIS and CODIS, these programs have the potential to revolutionize law enforcement investigations and significantly reduce the number of repeat offenders of violent crimes.... The rapid expansion of the program has called for increased lab space, storage facilities, and technicians as law enforcement begins to rely more heavily on DNA evidence.... ecent advances in DNA technology have been both a blessing and a curse for the United States' justice system and federal and local law enforcement agencies....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

The Rule of Law and Its Virtue

From the paper "The Rule of law and Its Virtue" it is clear that the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001 was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in November of 2001, a mere two months after the historic 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.... As stated by O'Donnell (2004): 'a truly democratic rule of law ensures political rights, civil liberties, and mechanisms of accountability which in turn affirms the political equality of all citizens and constrain political abuses of state power....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Changes in Technology and Criminal Law

The US has explained in detail the way patents should be dealt with as well as computers from which these changes in criminal law emerged (Noortwijk 2006).... "Changes in Technology and criminal law" paper examines different laws that are covered and they include criminal, civil, and regulatory laws which should be well understood by the security professional since the importance of the laws is continually increasing in the industry.... There is so much attention to the changes Information Technology has brought to the criminal law practice....
11 Pages (2750 words) Essay

The Concept and Development of Criminal Law

The focus of this paper is on the concept, origin, and development of law all exemplify the indigenous character of criminal law.... The law reforms commission of Canada addressed the jury selection process in its 1980 working paper.... Firstly, they provide Canadian citizens with protection against arbitrary and oppressive laws and law enforcement (Granger, 8), and in the process, help us make better laws that further promote peace and order....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Business Situation Presenting Ethical and Legal Issues

Developments in Criminal Law and criminal justice.... criminal law Forum, 3(3), 579-592.... The Effects of Community Law on National criminal law.... European Journal of Crime, criminal law and Criminal Justice, 7(2), 164-179.... criminal law forum.... criminal law Forum, 9(1-2), 193-196.... The Characteristics of British criminal law in the Setting of EU criminal law....
1 Pages (250 words) Admission/Application Essay

Analysis of Black Criminal Stereotypes And Racial Profiling Article Authored by Welch

Research has demonstrated that the overriding perceptions are that Blacks engage in African-American in crimes, a perception that is reinforced by crime statistics Welch seeks to address the diverse factors contributing to the criminal stereotyping of Blacks since this perception has, unfortunately, availed a rationale for the sorts for racial profiling employed by law enforcement agencies, as well as other criminal justice institutions (Welch, 2007).... Welch's article explores the theoretical elements employed during the development of Black criminal characterization to understand how this has been employed to justify racial profiling....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Paper

International Criminal Court - Developments in the Case Law on Genocide and Crimes against Humanity

The paper 'International Criminal Court - developments in the Case Law on Genocide and Crimes against Humanity' is a breathtaking example of the law literature review.... The paper 'International Criminal Court - developments in the Case Law on Genocide and Crimes against Humanity' is a breathtaking example of the law literature review.... The paper 'International Criminal Court - developments in the Case Law on Genocide and Crimes against Humanity' is a breathtaking example of the law literature review....
10 Pages (2500 words) Literature review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us