Different theories of punishments
1) Introduction
The most common functions of a state are two, war and administration of justice administration of justice is classified into two parts, civil justice and criminal justice. The purpose of the criminal justice is to punish the wrongdoer who is punished by the state. The purpose of punishment is to make men better or protection of the society. With time, various theories have been given by different jurists
2) Definition of punishment
Punishment is a method of protecting society from offenders and reducing the occurrence of criminal acts
3) Definition of crime
Crime is an act which violates the public rights which have been legally recognized by the state and are punishable under the law
4) Definition of criminal justice
Criminal justice is the body of law which deals with the offences and the imposition of punishments for offender against their violations
5) Theories of punishment
There are certain theories behind the concept of punishment
1. Deterrent theory
According to this theory of punishment, the purpose of punishment is to deter the offender from committing crimes again as well as keep other people away from committing the crimes. The aim of punishment is not revenge but terror
Criticism
There is a lot of criticism of the deterrent theory of punishment in modern time
A) To harsh punishment creates the sympathy in the hearts of people for
offender
B) Harsh punishment makes the offender more cruel instead of accepting the
fear of law
C) Harsh punishments lose their fear once the criminal is punished
2. Preventive theory
According to this theory of punishment, the purpose of this theory is the prevention of people from crimes which is only possible by disabling the offender by imposition of different kinds of punishment such as imprisonment, death, deportation, disabling the the physical power of the offender to commit the offence again. According to this theory, all criminals should be imprisoned and kept far away from normal society without any connection to it. By using this method, the society will be protected from the criminals.
Example
An example of preventive punishment is the cancellation of the driver's license of a driver
Criticism
There is a lot of criticism of the preventive theory of punishment in modern time
A) When an offender is put in jail, it breeds (Nasal) more crimes
B) For a long time keeping him in jail with habitual offenders, made him crueller
3. Reformative theory
According to this theory of punishment, the purpose of punishment is the reformation of the offender, even if the offender commits a crime. He must be educated and taught some industrial arts during the period of imprisonment so that he may be able to start his life after his release from jail
Criticism
There is a lot of criticism of the deterrent theory of punishment in modern times If a criminal is to be sent to jail for transformation into a good citizen, in this case, the will become a comfortable place for criminals. This kind of behaviour with the criminals will be helping the criminal to commit more crimes in future because they know that in prison they will not be punished
4. Retributive theory
According to this theory of punishment, In the ancient age, the only purpose of this punishment was only on revenge. The person wronged was allowed to have his revenge against the wrongdoer and the wrongdoer will give the same punishment as had been suffered by the victim. The principle of this theory was “an eye for an eye” “ a life for a life” and “a tooth for a tooth” was recognised and followed
Criticism
There is a lot of criticism of the deterrent theory of punishment in modern times. Critics point out that retributive punishment is not a judicial remedy for the crimes committed by the offender but retributive punishment in itself abolishes the value of judicial proceedings and people start to believe in revenge which leaves a bad influence on the minds of people
5. Compensatory theory
According to this theory of punishment, the purpose of punishment is to compensate the victim which creates financial pressure upon an offender who violates the rights of the people of the society. If a victim may lose his property by the offender in this case, according to this theory the offender will be liable to return the property to his real owner
Criticism
There is a lot of criticism of the compensatory theory of punishment.
A) If an offence is performed by a poor offender it is not possible that compensation may be taken
B) If an offender is a rich person the payment for compensation may not be punishment for him
6. Expiatory theory
This theory is similar to the compensatory theory, according to this theory; compensation is paid to the victim by the wrongdoer. The idea behind expiation theory is that the current justice system forgets about the victim or their family, and just focuses on punishing the criminal.
7. Utilitarian theory
The utilitarian theory does not support any particular theory. But it is purely based on Penal measures and followers of this theory believe that punishment is a method for reducing crimes, no matter which kind of punishment is given. Followers of this theory say that punishment aims to achieve good concerns for each and every kind of punishment should be given
6) Types of crimes in Pakistan
Following are the types of crime in Pakistan which are punishable under the Pakistan penal code
- Murder
- Rape
- Robbery
- Theft
- Undue influence
- Corruption
- Cybercrime
- Human trafficking
- Attempt to suicide
7) Objectives of Punishment
Following are the objectives of the punishment
- The major objective of the punishment is the protection of the life of the offender
- The second objective of the punishment is the protection of the property of the people
- Another objective of the punishment is the protection of the state and country
- The theory of punishment aim is the maintenance of peace and equality
- Protection of the culture and morality
- The most important objective is the protection of the rights and liberties of the people
- The biggest aim of punishment is to disgrace the crimes and criminal activities
- To prevent the other members of the community from repeating crimes
8) Conclusion
The perfect system of criminal justice cannot be based on any one theory of punishment because every theory has its own merits and all efforts are being put to gain good results against criminals. The deterrent aspect of punishment must not be ignored as well and reformative theory must be given its due place. The purpose of criminal justice is to prevent society from the repetition of crimes by offenders and there are a lot of methods to keep offenders away from committing crimes again