Towards an Integrated (and Possibly Pan-European?) Prima Facie Legitimacy Test: Merging the Rechtsgut Theory, the Offensività Principle, and the Harm Principle

What is it about?

This paper analyses and compares continental European and Anglo-American principles of criminalisation – namely, the legal goods theory, the offensività principle, and the harm principle. It then elaborates an Integrated Legitimacy Test to assess the prima facie legitimacy of criminalisation that embeds the most relevant common features of these principles. The Test strives to overcome some of the criticisms directed against the European and Anglo-American theories by narrowly defining their core elements and linking them to empirical evidence. Moreover, its transnational nature makes it suitable to feed the criminalisation debate at the European Union level.

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Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash