Criminal Law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people. Most criminal law is established by statute, which is to say that the laws are enacted by a legislature. It includes the punishment of people who violate these laws. Criminal law varies according to jurisdiction, and differs from civil law, where emphasis is more on dispute resolution and victim compensation than on punishment. 

The first civilizations generally did not distinguish between civil law and criminal law. The first written codes of law were designed by the Sumerians. Around 2100–2050 BC Ur-Nammu, the Neo-Sumerian king of Ur, enacted the oldest written legal code whose text has been discovered: the "Code of Ur-Nammu" although an earlier code of Urukagina of Lagash ( 2380–2360 BC ) is also known to have existed. Another important early code was the Code Hammurabi, which formed the core of Babylonian law. Only fragments of the early criminal laws of Ancient Greece have survived, e.g. those of Solon and Draco. 

In Roman law, Gaius's "Commentaries on the Twelve Tables" also conflated the civil and criminal aspects, treating theft ("furtum") as a tort. Assault and violent robbery were analogized to trespass as to property. Breach of such laws created an obligation of law or "vinculum juris" discharged by payment of monetary compensation or damages. The criminal law of imperial Rome is collected in Books 47–48 of the Digest. After the revival of Roman law in the 12th century, sixth-century Roman classifications and jurisprudence provided the foundations of the distinction between criminal and civil law in European law from then until the present time. QUESTIONS:

Q1:
1. What are some things that crime endangers?
2. What are a few examples of things that are put in danger because of crime?
3. 
Q2:
1. How is most criminal law established?
2. What sets the scene for the majority of criminal law?
3. 
Q3:
1. What does a statute mean?
2. What is indicated by a statute?
3. 
Q4:
1. Is punishment a part of criminal law?
2. Does criminal law cover punishment?
3. Is punishment one of the aspects of criminal law?
Q5:
1. What is the equivalent of criminal law punishment in civil law?
2. What does civil law call the thing that criminal law refers to as punishment/
3. 
Q6:
1. Have criminal and civil law always been two separate fields?
2. Has there always been a clear distinction between civil and criminal law?
3. 
Q7:
1. Who enacted the first criminal codes?
2. Who put the first criminal codes on the books?
3. 
Q8:
1. When was the Code of Ur-Nammu enacted?
2. In what year did the Code of Ur-Nammu get put into place?
3. 
Q9:
1. Who enacted the Code of Ur-Nammu?
2. Who put the Code of Ur-Nammu into place?
3. 
Q10:
1. What was the king of UR?
2. What did the King of Ur rule over?
3. 
Q11:
1. What country was the Code of Hammurabi enforced in?
2. What country was governed by Hammurabi's Code?
3. 
Q12:
1. Is there anything left from ancient criminal codes?
2. Do we still have traces of ancient criminal codes?
3. 
Q13:
1. Did Rome distinguish between civil and criminal law?
2. Was there discrimination between civil and criminal law in Rome?
3. 
Q14:
1. What did Furtum mean?
2. What was the definition of furtum?
3. 
Q15:
1. What was theft treated as?
2. How did the Romans treat furtum?
3. 
