The Evolution of the Canadian Criminal CodeThe laws of the United States have been revised many times, and the Criminal Code of Canada is similar. The Criminal Code is a set of systematic laws dealing with crime. The code has been revised several times over the past century by the federal government to adapt to the many laws that have been applied to Canadian citizens. The history of homicide in the Criminal Code has evolved from no degree of murder in 1892 to three types of culpable homicide (Leyton). The Canadian Criminal Code has changed over the years to adapt to the needs of changing times, such as changes regarding gun control and the elimination of the death penalty. In 1892, the Criminal Code of Canada was created, copying much of the English Bill of 1878. "The Canadian Criminal Code, which copied the English Bill of 1878, was revised several times to meet the needs Canadian citizens” (Monroe). At that time, there was no distinction between different types of murder according to their degree of seriousness, because the punishment for each type of murder was the death penalty and manslaughter was a life sentence ( Designs). In 1955, a major reform was carried out. and the Canadian Criminal Code was reduced from 1,100 sections to just 753. The chair of the Law Reform Commission of Canada made this major reform and noted: “It's too complicated. It's too illogical. It's poorly organized. It's not complete and too intrusive. We deserve a modern, simple, logical, coherent, complete, organized, understandable and sober Criminal Code” (“What”). One of the benefits of the reform was the addition of a constitutional principle that no person could be convicted of an offense unless it was specifically provided for in a law. Although the reform brought many changes, the Criminal Code was not completely revised because in 1961, further amendments were made to the Code. In this change, the code included degrees of murder and divided murders into capital and non-capital murders. The penalty for capital murder was death, while non-capital murder was punishable by life in prison (Leyton). Capital murder was categorized...... middle of paper ...... like other countries, Canada uses lethal injection and the electric chair as methods of punishment, although lethal injection is by far the most common. Indeed, laws for Canadian citizens have changed several times over the years to help them adapt to changes in their country. Works Cited Bralove, Alisa. “Mass murder to get a new sentence.” Dolan Media Newswire.09 September 2003: Page 1.Designs, Alissa. “The History of Homicide in the Criminal Code.” Victims of violence. Online October 13, 2003. <alissa'sdesigns@rogers?subject=victims%200f%20violence.com>Dessert, James. “Criminal Timeline of Canada”. The Criminal Code of Canada: a history. Online. Internet. October 11, 2003. Garibay, Maria D. Personal interview. October 16, 2003. Geter, Peter. “The killing of the crying baby was premeditated.” Daily check-in. June 23, 2003: page 1. Leyton, Elliott. “Homicide”. Canadian Encyclopedia. 1998 Ed. Monroe, Susan. “Criminal law”. Canadian Criminal Timeline. Online. Internet09 November 2003. "What is first degree murder?" » World Information Association. Online. Internet. November 9 2003.