Civil and criminal sanctions

  CIVIL AND CRIMINAL SANCTIONS

(LEGAL SANCTION)

Sanction is the application of the physical force of the Stat 

for the physical force of the State for the enforcement of law. The term sanction is wider than the term punishment because punishment is only a kind of sanction of criminal law. Besides, the punishment, there are civil sanction of criminal law. Besides punishment, there are civil sanctions like restitution, compensation, etc., Sanction is different from liability. Sanction is evil incurred by disobedience to the law whereas liability is the exposedness to the sanctions of the law. Sanctions are divided into four types. They are: 

Civil sanctions

Criminal sanctions

Ultimate sanctions

Intermediate sanctions

Civil sanctions: 

Civil sanctions are private sanctions and they are damages either liquidate or unliquidated, normal or special. Costs which need to be reimbursed by the unsuccessful party to litigation. Consist of Restitution of property, specific performance of contract and various types of injunctions. 

Criminal sanctions: 

They include fine, imprisonment (both simple and rigorous), forfeiture of property, death sentence, transportations for life, etc., 

Ultimate sanctions: 

Any sanction which is not the imposition of another duty, but which is the liability to some other evil is called an Ultimate sanction. Example: bodily pain, imprisonment etc., 

Intermediate sanctions:

When a person has broken a primary duty, law imposes another duty on the violator as a sanction and it is called an intermediate sanction. 

Capital punishment: 

The number of offences for which the penalty is death is steadily decreasing. At present, death penalty is given only for such offences like cold blooded murder, that too, rarest of rare cases and treason. In some countries, death penalty has been altogether abolished. Some of them are encouraging death penalty because it is very frightening, it has a greater deterrent influence even upon hardened criminals. As the dangerous or unworthy members of society are permanently eliminated by death, it is the most effective preventive punishment. Arguments in favour of the abolition of death penalty, because, it is a principle of ‘an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth’, so by nature Jurisprudence should not depend upon such principle. Sometime due to judicial errors, injustice may occur. If the accused is alive, injustice can be remedied. If the person is hanged, then errors become irredeemable. 

Reformative punishments: 

1. Imprisonment: 

Under the reformative theory, imprisonment in prison is congenial for the moral education of the criminals.  After 18th century the prisoners were segregated in individual cells so that they could repent for their misdeed in solitude. 

2. Parole: 

The offender is released from prison or reformatory institution in which he has served a part of his sentence of the condition of maintaining good behaviour. The released prisoner is put under the supervision of a parole officer who helps him in all possible ways. 

3. Borstal institutions: 

Juvenile and adolescent offenders are given industrial training and the discipline and conduct in these institutions influences the juvenile offenders who are between the age of 16 to 21 to reformed and not to become habitual offenders.