Considering a Course in Criminal Law?
The goal of the criminal justice field is to keep individuals and communities safe and happy and to ensure the protection of life, the security of property, and the enactment of justice.
Criminal justice professionals work towards this goal every day by protecting their communities, investigating crime, and enforcing laws to ensure every member of society has their safety prioritized. Careers in criminal justice can involve protecting and securing the public, law enforcement, investigation, public safety, corrections, and social services such as advocating for victims of crime, counseling, and rehabilitating criminals.
What is Criminal Law?
In a nutshell, laws are rules that define conduct prohibited by the government because it threatens and harms public safety and welfare. An offender is someone who has broken a law. Criminal law deals with the punishment of offenders and the rules and laws that define criminal acts.
The law outlines what a crime is and is not and a person is always presumed innocent until proven guilty. To punish an offender, Criminal Law has to meet a burden of proof that is beyond a reasonable doubt.
This means that for a defendant to be found guilty the case presented by the prosecution must be enough to remove any reasonable doubt in the mind of the jury that the defendant is guilty of the crime with which they are charged.
Why learn about Criminal Law?
The Criminal Law and the Criminal Justice field is full of jobs that help others, from law enforcement to working in the court system you will be protecting people from criminal activity, helping crime victims, or ensuring justice for victims and society. A career in criminal justice is a great way to make a difference and give back to your community.
Within Criminal Law and in Criminal Justice, you can work with victims of crime, assist in solving crimes, or help prevent crime in your community. With the right education and experience in Criminal Law, you can work in a wide variety of fields such as Judiciary and Law, Law Enforcement, Community Health, Social Services, Corrections, Customs and Immigration, Drug Enforcement, Private and Personal Security, and even Teaching and Research.
What Will I Learn?
- You will have an understanding of the three main elements of the justice system: the courts, policing, and corrections.
- You will learn about justice, juvenile justice, and human rights.
- You could learn about criminal law, research methods for criminology, and criminological theory.
- You will learn about accounting forensics, forensic psychology, international criminal law, environmental law, and military law.
- You could gain general theoretical knowledge of penal law such as criminal justice, global crime problems, and human rights and gain an in-depth knowledge of aspects related to homicide, mentally disordered offenders, the death penalty, legal responses to terrorism.
- You will learn about public safety, law enforcement, and criminal behaviour.
- You will learn about criminal investigations, crime scene investigation, and emergency management as they pertain to the law.
Career Opportunities
After completing your course in Criminal Law, you could work as a Criminal Lawyer, Paralegal, Legal Assistant, Legislator, Detective, Crime Scene Investigator, Forensic Investigator, Probation Officer or Private Investigator
If you’re serious about doing a course in Criminal Law and would like to learn more about Criminal Justice check out courses in the Nightcourses.co.uk national course finder.
