criminal code

noun

, Law.

1. the aggregate of statutory enactments pertaining to criminal offenses.
2. a systematic and integrated statement of the rules and principles pertaining to criminal offenses.

Word History and Origins

Origin of criminal code¹

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

Tough-on-crime lawmakers rewrote the state’s criminal code to turn some misdemeanors into felonies.

From ProPublica

By 2008, he’d served as chair of the influential Criminal Law Advisory Commission for a decade, which advises the Legislature on changes to the state’s criminal code.

From ProPublica

Only that, as you might expect, the U.S. Criminal Code, and a similar collection of Illinois criminal statutes are nearby.

From The Daily Beast

Traditionally, these are issues of state and local government, the criminal code.

From The Daily Beast

Liu was convicted under Section 105 of the criminal code, or “incitement to subvert state power.”

From The Daily Beast

The criminal code, the surest indication of the moral condition of the community, was revised.

From Project Gutenberg

The result was that, in 1495, Maximilian I established a new criminal code, materially weakening the secret tribunals.

From Project Gutenberg

He had only, he thought, to convert a few members of parliament to gain the acceptance for a rational criminal code.

From Project Gutenberg

Even in the criminal code a prisoner is presumed to be innocent until he is found guilty.

From Project Gutenberg

We gave an account of the civil and criminal code of Dahomey in the chapter on that empire.

From Project Gutenberg