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While a functional concept of crime under the common law has ancient roots, theoretical and doctrinal formulations emerged only in the 19th century. Here, scholar Adekemi Odujirin interweaves two narratives relating to crime--one contextual and functional, the other jurisprudential and theoretical. The result transcends traditional inquiry by identifying and exploring the normative conclusions embodied in the concept of crime.
This is a thesis about criminal culpability and the need for a moral theory of criminal fault. The liberal positivist ideal of separating law and morals has resulted in the moral reductionism of the doctrine of mens rea. Originally a normative concept that was used to evaluate blameworthiness in moral terms, mens rea has been transformed into a descriptive concept that merely identifies the technical, psychological mental states that are required for particular offences. It is argued that the doctrine of mens rea should be recast in an overt normative mould. This work does not suggest that the morality of prohibited conduct or the moral virtue of the accused be brought into question in determining culpability. The thesis merely argues that morally innocent accused should not be subjected to criminal liability. In order to achieve this, the thesis reconceptualises criminal fault in terms of moral blameworthiness. The doctrine of mens rea is consequently reconstructed so that it can be expressly used to attribute moral blameworthiness more fairly. It is argued in this dissertation that a person is morally blameworthy when he or she engages in prohibited activity, knowing that it is illegal, or where he or she ought to have known, that it is illegal. Where an accused was reasonably ignorant or mistaken as to the legality of the conduct, he or she should be regarded as morally (and hence, legally) innocent. Thus, the legal rule that ignorance of law is not a defence is unfair, contrary to fundamental principles of justice and can no longer be supported. It is proposed that a general defence of reasonable mistake of law be recognised. The work exposes a hidden normative doctrine of fault. Because this normative doctrine is formally suppressed, internal contradictions in the key notions of culpability are inevitable. It is demonstrated that by relying on theoretical, historical, doctrinal and comparative analyses, these contradictions can be resolved.
This English translation makes available to anglophone readers a modern classic of German tort theory. It argues that modern German tort law is faced with doctrinal tensions based on problematic theoretical assumptions which stem from historical conceptions of tortious liability, inappropriate to modern times. From a theoretical perspective, it argues against the prevalent doctrinal view in Germany that conceives of tortious liability as split between two tracks - a fault-based track and a strict liability track - each with different normative foundations. Instead, Jansen asserts that there is no rigid distinction between the normative foundations of each form of liability. Rather, both fault liability and strict liability in German law, and indeed other European systems, are best considered as resting upon the unifying theoretical structure of outcome responsibility. The book thus places responsibility rather than wrongdoing at the centre of the normative foundations of tort law. Historically, the book traces in detail how conceptions of tort liability have changed from Roman law to contemporary legal doctrine. It shows how particular historical understandings of the normative basis of tort law have led to continuing normative tensions in contemporary doctrine. Finally, the book examines how a reconstruction of modern German - and, indeed, European - law as based upon outcome responsibility should affect its doctrinal structure. This book makes contributions to the study of the theory, history, and doctrinal structure of tort law. While drawing on and explaining German tort law, its comparative, theoretical, and historical analysis will be of interest to scholars in all legal systems.
This book offers a set of essays, old and new, examining the positive obligations of individuals and the state in matters of criminal law. The centrepiece is a new, extended essay on the criminalisation of omissions-examining the duties to act imposed on individuals and organisations by the criminal law, and assessing their moral and social foundations. Alongside this is another new essay on the state's positive obligations to put in place criminal laws to protect certain individual rights. Introducing the volume is the author's much-cited essay on criminalisation, 'Is the Criminal Law a Lost Cause?'. The book sets out to shed new light on contemporary arguments about the proper boundaries of the criminal law, not least by exploring the justifications for imposing positive duties (reinforced by the criminal law) on individuals and their relation to the positive obligations of the state.
Modern Tort Law is a comprehensive, accessible and up-to-date introduction to the law of torts. Now in its seventh edition, Vivienne Harpwood’s popular, student-friendly text explains the principles of all aspects of tort law in a lively and thought-provoking manner. The broad coverage of modern tort law makes this an ideal textbook for any undergraduate tort law course. Students are encouraged to understand and apply the principles of tort law effectively throughout and particular attention is paid to the context within which the law is evolving, making these topics both accessible and enjoyable. This seventh edition has been revised and updated to take into account developments since publication of the previous edition including in the areas of privacy, negligence, personal injury and defamation. Human Rights issues are integrated throughout the text rather than treating the topic in isolation, in line with the way the subject is commonly taught. Now more accessible and student-friendly, it includes: advice on further reading at the end of each chapter which is intended to point students towards sources of further study and critical debate new chapter introductions, rewritten to reflect learning outcomes. Modern Tort Law is now supported by a Companion Website which offers lecturer resources available to adopters of the book, including ‘think points’ designed to encourage reflection and debate and PowerPoints of diagrams and flowcharts contained within the text. A dedicated student section also offers weblinks, a guide to key Tort law cases, a flashcard glossary and a test bank of multiple choice questions.
Jules Coleman discusses the conflict between the goals of justice and economic efficiency in the allocation of risk, especially risk pertaining to safety.
The Oxford Handbook of Criminal Law reflects the continued transformation of criminal law into a global discipline, providing scholars with a comprehensive international resource, a common point of entry into cutting edge contemporary research and a snapshot of the state and scope of the field. To this end, the Handbook takes a broad approach to its subject matter, disciplinarily, geographically, and systematically. Its contributors include current and future research leaders representing a variety of legal systems, methodologies, areas of expertise, and research agendas. The Handbook is divided into four parts: Approaches & Methods (I), Systems & Methods (II), Aspects & Issues (III), and Contexts & Comparisons (IV). Part I includes essays exploring various methodological approaches to criminal law (such as criminology, feminist studies, and history). Part II provides an overview of systems or models of criminal law, laying the foundation for further inquiry into specific conceptions of criminal law as well as for comparative analysis (such as Islamic, Marxist, and military law). Part III covers the three aspects of the penal process: the definition of norms and principles of liability (substantive criminal law), along with a less detailed treatment of the imposition of norms (criminal procedure) and the infliction of sanctions (prison law). Contributors consider the basic topics traditionally addressed in scholarship on the general and special parts of the substantive criminal law (such as jurisdiction, mens rea, justifications, and excuses). Part IV places criminal law in context, both domestically and transnationally, by exploring the contrasts between criminal law and other species of law and state power and by investigating criminal law's place in the projects of comparative law, transnational, and international law.
This book presents arguments and proposals for constraining criminalization, with a focus on the legal limits of the criminal law. The book approaches the issue by showing how the moral criteria for constraining unjust criminalization can and has been incorporated into constitutional human rights and thus provides a legal right not to be unfairly criminalized. The book sets out the constitutional limits of the substantive criminal law. As far as specific constitutional rights operate to protect specific freedoms, for example, free speech, freedom of religion, privacy, etc, the right not to be criminalized has proved to be a rather powerful justice constraint in the U.S. Yet the general right not to be criminalized has not been fully embraced in either the U.S. or Europe, although it does exist. This volume lays out the legal foundations of that right and the criteria for determining when the state might override it. The book will be of interest to researchers in the areas of legal philosophy, criminal law, constitutional law, and criminology.