Penal law

In the most general sense, penal is the body of laws that are enforced by the State in its own name and impose penalties for their violation, as opposed to civil law that seeks to redress private wrongs. This usage is synonymous with criminal law and is covered in that article.

Related Topics:
Civil law - Criminal law

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In some jurisdictions, such as Canada, penal law is distinct from criminal law even if it encompasses this last field. This is a result of federalism; only the federal Parliament has the legislative power to enact criminal law statutes, yet provinces can also attach penal dispositions to their non-criminal statutes so they will be respected.

Related Topics:
Canada - Federalism - Parliament

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

More specifically, the Penal laws were a set of

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

laws which punished nonconformism in the United Kingdom.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~