Submitted by admin on April 22, 2009 - 22:01
PENAL THEORY
The purpose of the criminal law is not to punish vice but to protect society against conduct harmful to its members. Many acts condemned by the majority are not punishable. It was on this ground that some in New Zealand argued (successfully) that attempted suicide and (unsuccessfully) that homosexual acts between consenting adult males should not be offences. Moreover, mainly for reasons of expediency, even socially harmful conduct is not always criminal; as, for example, adultery.