The Evolution of the Canadian Criminal CodeThe laws of the United States have been revised numerous times and the Canadian Criminal Code is similar. The penal code is a systematic body of legislation on crime. The code has been revised several times over the last century by the federal government to facilitate compliance with the many laws applied to Canadian citizens. The history of murder in the criminal code has evolved from the absence of degrees of murder in 1892 to the existence of three types of manslaughter (Leyton). Canada's Criminal Code has changed over the years to meet the needs of changing times, such as gun control amendments and the elimination of the death penalty. In 1892, the Canadian Criminal Code was established, copying much of the English Bill of 1878. “The Canadian Criminal Code, which copied the English Bill of 1878, has been revised numerous times to meet the needs of Canadian citizens” (Monroe ). At that time there was no distinction between different types of murder based on the degree of severity, 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 made and the Canadian Criminal Code was reduced from 1,100 sections to just 753. The President of the Law Reform Commission of Canada made this major reform and remarked, “It's too complicated. illogical. It is poorly organised. It is too intrusive. We deserve a penal code that is modern, simple, logical, comprehensive, organised, understandable and sober." One of the advantages of the reform was the inclusion of the constitutional principle according to which no one can be convicted of a crime unless this is expressly provided for by law. Although the reform brought many new features, the penal code was not completely revised because other changes were made to the code in 1961. In this change, the code included degrees of homicide and divided homicides into capital and non-capital homicides. The penalty for capital murder was death, while non-capital murder was punishable by life imprisonment (Leyton). Capital murder was classified... middle of the paper... as do other countries, Canada uses lethal injection and the electric chair as methods of punishment, although lethal injection is by far the most common . In fact, the laws for Canadian citizens have changed numerous times over the years to help them accommodate the changes in their nation. Works Cited Bralove, Alisa. “Mass murder to get a new sentence.” Dolan Media Newswire.09 September 2003: Page 1.Drawings, Alissa. "The history of murder in the penal code". Victims of violence. Online October 13, 2003. < alissa'sdesigns@rogers?subject=victims%200f%20violence.com>Dessert, James. “Criminal Timeline of Canada.” Canadian Criminal Code: A History. Online. Internet. October 11, 2003. Garibay, Maria D. Personal Interview. October 16, 2003. Geter, Peter. “The murder of the crying baby was premeditated.” Daily registration. June 23, 2003: Page 1.Leyton, Elliott. "Homocide." Canadian Encyclopedia. 1998 Ed.Monroe, Susan. “Criminal law”. Criminal Timeline of Canada. Online. Internet09 November 2003.“What is first degree murder?” World Information Association. Online. Internet. 09 November 2003.