 Criminal law. Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of oneself. Most criminal law is established by statute, which is to say that the laws are enacted by a legislature. Criminal law includes the punishment and slash or rehabilitation of people who violate such 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 and slash or rehabilitation. Criminal procedure is a formalized official activity that authenticates the fact of commission of a crime and authorizes punitive and slash or rehabilitative treatment of the offender. These are at best core definitions. They do not comprehend all legal systems, all stages in the development of a legal system, for all elements within a given legal system.