Summary:
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'''Criminalization''' or '''criminalisation''', in [[criminology]], is "the process by which behaviors and individuals are transformed into [[crime]] and criminals". Previously legal acts may be transformed into crimes by [[legislation]] or judicial decision. However, there is usually a formal presumption in the rules of [[statutory interpretation]] against the [[ex post facto law|retrospective application of laws]] and only the use of express words by the [[legislature]] may rebut this presumption. The power of judges to make new law and retrospectively criminalise behaviour is also discouraged. In a less overt way, where laws have not been strictly enforced, the acts prohibited by those laws may also undergo ''de facto'' criminalisation through more effective or committed legal enforcement.
{{GFDL}}
'''Criminalization''' or '''criminalisation''', in [[criminology]], is "the process by which behaviors and individuals are transformed into [[crime]] and criminals". Previously legal acts may be transformed into crimes by [[legislation]] or judicial decision. However, there is usually a formal presumption in the rules of [[statutory interpretation]] against the [[ex post facto law|retrospective application of laws]] and only the use of express words by the [[legislature]] may rebut this presumption. The power of judges to make new law and retrospectively criminalise behaviour is also discouraged. In a less overt way, where laws have not been strictly enforced, the acts prohibited by those laws may also undergo ''de facto'' criminalisation through more effective or committed legal enforcement.
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