ABSTRACT
Law is the body of precepts, of rules and traditions of art for applying those precepts, and of received ideals for shaping, supplementing, and developing them, by which this part of social control is carried on. The law imposes duties of doing certain things or of abstaining from certain acts or courses of conduct without conferring any corresponding or correlative individual legal right. In consequence, over and above the general problems involved in all securing of interests by means of the law, criminal law has special problems. It must define absolute duties so as to preserve a just and workable balance between the competing social interests involved. It must safeguard the general security and the individual life against abuse of criminal procedure, while at the same time making that procedure as effective as possible for the securing of the whole scheme of social interests.
