NCJ Number
138941
Journal
EuroCriminology Volume: 3 Dated: (1990) Pages: 27-43
Date Published
1990
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This discussion of criminalization and decriminalization addresses several questions: whether and to what extent penal norms are genuinely taken seriously and actually implemented, why they are necessary, why they are created, and why they become superfluous again.
Abstract
The problems addressed in this examination of criminalization and decriminalization concern changes relating to conduct deemed punishable by legislature and criminal justice administration; the reasons for these changes and their repercussions are discussed. The principle "nullum crimen sine lege," which means there can be no crime without a statutory basis, provides the foundation for the discussion. Similar to many other states, West Germany currently faces overcriminalization. The reasons for the new criminalization lie primarily in the failure of traditionally informal control structures as well as in the resulting efforts at legalization and purposeful political control, as in the areas of road traffic, economic, and environmental criminal law. A fundamental problem of every new criminalization is that prosecuting authorities initially must contend with frequent disregard of the prohibition. 65 references