Читать книгу Criminal Law - Mark Thomas - Страница 13

In speaking of the ‘need’ for the criminal law, we are essentially considering the justifications for the imposition of criminal liability. In addition, we are concerned with the respective ‘functions’ of the criminal law in its operation. By way of overview, the ‘Report on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution’ (1957) (Cmnd 247) (the ‘Wolfenden Report’) considered the purpose of the criminal law to be

to preserve public order and decency, to protect the citizen from what is offensive or injurious, and to provide sufficient safeguards against exploitation and corruption of others, particularly those who are especially vulnerable … It is not … the function of the law to intervene in the private lives of citizens, or to seek to enforce any particular pattern of behaviour, further than is necessary to carry out the purposes we have outlined.