absolutum dominium

1) That criminal law, unlike civil law, is not concerned with compensation between offender and victim. Yet increasingly this distinction is blurred with compensation orders and other reparative ideas insinuating themselves as a regular adjunct of sentencing options.

2) That criminal law is often discussed solely in instrumental terms and is thought to be justified only on the grounds of what it achieves by way of public protection. But a moment’s thought reveals that this does not accord with the actual practice of criminal law and punishment. Not only are there many other means by which social control is achieved, but any attempt to draw a causal connection between criminal enforcement and reduced crime is fraught with problems.

Maybe, another view of criminal law is that it has an ideological function, that it makes statements about the boundaries of tolerated behaviour.