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1 - Legality in Criminal Law, Its Purposes, and Its Competitors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2009

Kenneth S. Gallant
Kenneth S. Gallant
Affiliation:
University of Arkansas
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Summary

The creation of international criminal law, especially in international criminal tribunals, frequently raises questions concerning “the principle of legality of crimes and punishments (le principe de légalité des délits et des peines).” Many rules have made up the principle of legality in criminal law, although not all of them apply in all societies that accept the principle:

  1. No act that was not criminal under a law applicable to the actor (pursuant to a previously promulgated statute) at the time of the act may be punished as a crime.

  2. No act may be punished by a penalty that was not authorized by a law applicable to the actor (pursuant to a previously promulgated statute) at the time of the act.

  3. No act may be punished by a court whose jurisdiction was not established at the time of the act.

  4. No act may be punished on the basis of lesser or different evidence from that which could have been used at the time of the act.

  5. No act may be punished except by a law that is sufficiently clear to provide notice that the act was prohibited at the time it was committed.

  6. Interpretation and application of the law should be done on the basis of consistent principles.

  7. Punishment is personal to the wrongdoer. Collective punishments may not be imposed for individual crime.

  8. Everything not prohibited by law is permitted.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Principle of Legality in International and Comparative Criminal Law , pp. 11 - 45
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

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