Special Part of the Criminal Law of the Continental European Countries: Modern Status and Development Algorithm Cover Image

Особенная часть уголовного законодательства стран континентальной Европы: современное состояние и алгоритм развития
Special Part of the Criminal Law of the Continental European Countries: Modern Status and Development Algorithm

Author(s): Vladimir Koniachin
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Criminal Law, Criminology
Published by: Vytauto Didžiojo Universitetas
Keywords: Criminal legislation; Special part of Criminal Code; algorithm of development; codification; criminalization; penalization; unification;

Summary/Abstract: The article is devoted to analysis of modern status of algorithm of the development of Special part of Criminal legislation of Continental Europe countries. According to author’s opinion, Special part of Criminal Code, as a structural element of Criminal legislation, is a complex of institutes and norms, which give definition and characteristics of crimes and set sanctions. The system of Special part of criminal legislation consists of two subsystems: 1) codified (main), illustrated in Criminal Code; 2) not codified (subsidiary), illustrated in different formal sources (international treaties, special criminal laws, legal acts of other areas of law). Criteria for the construction of the Special Part of the criminal legislation of the abovementioned states are determined on the basis of the commonality of the objects of criminal offences and their significance in the hierarchy of social values which are officially adopted in this or that society and the state. Taking the content into consideration, the Special Part of the Criminal law of various countries of continental Europe, on the one hand, has universality and unity in the main - in the list of common crimes, forming its “core”. On the other hand, it is distinguished by a sufficiently pronounced invariance, i.e. specificity in the amount of criminalization, the degree of differentiation of criminal responsibility and the level of penalization for committed offences. At present stage the algorithm of the development of the Special Part of the criminal legislation of the countries of continental Europe has the following model: codification as a whole prevails over decodification, criminalization – over decriminalization, penalization – over depenalization. At the present time, the concept (ideology) of the Special Part of the criminal legislation of these countries is gradually changing, which is manifested, first of all, in a change in the vector of value orientations of criminal legal protection: (from the state to the individual). Unification of the content of the Special Part of the criminal legislation of these states may be characterised as a stable trend. In addition, the process of rapprochement of various criminal legal systems (primarily Romano-Germanic (continental) and Anglo-American) continues.

  • Issue Year: 2018
  • Issue No: 2 (18)
  • Page Range: 148-156
  • Page Count: 9
  • Language: Russian