This program traces the history of world criminal justice from the Code of Hammurabi, through ancient Greece and Rome, to the Middle Ages. It covers such topics as criminal justice in India, China, Japan, and the Middle East; English debtors’ prisons; punishments for colonial witchcraft; the development of criminology; and modern criminal justice systems.

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Introduction: The History of World Criminal Justice (00:45)
This video focuses on how societies punish those who violate laws. The earliest type of criminal justice involved retaliation.


Ancient Western Laws and Justice (06:38)
Ancient society's laws revolved around religious superstition and retaliation— the Code of Hammurabi united many cultures under one set of laws. The Ten Commandments serve as the foundation for most western legal systems. The Roman Empire created the first police force, enforced its court rulings, and united its people under one religion.


European Middle Ages to Modernity (08:02)
After the Norman Conquest of 1066, feudalism mixed with Anglo-Saxon law, creating the first modern justice system. The inquisitorial system of justice was created to help weed out heretics, and make them answer the accusation in a court of law. In colonial America, the founding fathers drafted a government with three different branches: executive, legislative and judicial.


Eastern Social Control and Justice (06:43)
After the protests in Tiananmen Square, China adopted a new constitution of individual rights and freedoms. In Japan, a penal code was enacted in Japan where 99 percent of those tried plead guilty. Sharia is Islamic law based upon the teachings of the Qur'an.


Modern Western Law and Justice (08:46)
In 1885, Raffaele Garofalo coined the term criminology as the study of the causes and effects of crime on society. Learn about the three branches of modern criminal justice: police, court and corrections. The corrections system concentrates on four goals: retribution, deterrence, incapacitation and rehabilitation.


Credits: The History of World Criminal Justice (01:12)
Credits: The History of World Criminal Justice