What type of law typically addresses disputes involving illegal actions against societal norms?

Criminal law is specifically focused on defining behaviors that are deemed harmful to society as a whole and establishing the penalties for those behaviors. It addresses disputes that arise when individuals engage in actions that violate laws intended to protect public order and societal standards, such as theft, assault, or drug offenses.

The primary goal of criminal law is not just to address the wrongdoing of the individual, but also to deter others from committing similar offenses, thereby promoting societal norms and values. The processes involved in criminal law, such as prosecution and sentencing, are conducted by the state as it is viewed as the party aggrieved by the violation of law.

In contrast, civil law primarily deals with disputes between private individuals or entities and focuses on resolving non-criminal disputes, such as contracts and torts. Constitutional law pertains to the interpretation of a country's constitution and the relationships between various governmental entities, while international law governs relationships between nations and doesn’t involve direct societal norms in the same way criminal law does. Therefore, criminal law is the category that directly addresses illegal actions against societal norms.