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Criminal law, sometimes called penal law, refers to the body of law which deals with crimes and their consequences. Criminal acts are considered offences against the whole of a community. Responsibility for crime prevention, for bringing the culprits to justice, and for dealing with convicted offenders is carried out by the state. The police, the criminal courts and prisons are all publicly funded services, though the main focus of criminal law concerns the role of the courts, how they apply criminal statutes passed by legislatures as well as common law, and why they criminalise some forms of behaviour. This question, what the aims of criminal law ought to be, is hotly contested. Perhaps criminal law is about punishing crooks because they deserve it and because the victim deserves to get his own back. Perhaps with enough punishment people will also be deterred from committing crimes in the first place. Perhaps criminal law is simply about removing people from society, to protect law abiding citizens by incapacitating the offender. Perhaps then, prisons can reform and rehabilitate people to go back into society. And perhaps in some way, offenders can be made to recognise their wrongs in relation to victims and make restitution for the harm. There are many more aims, which are often combined, which produces the mix of systems operating today.