A Modern Treatise on the Principle of Legality in Criminal Law

Thepresentbookisbasedonthelecturesdeliveredbytheauthorinthepastfew yearsaspartoftheCriminalLawcourseoftheFacultyofLawattheOnoAcademic College. There has been little research on the principle of legality in modern criminallaw,althoughthisisoneofthemostancientlegalprinciplesofhuman society. In recent generations there have been several attempts to de?ne the principleconclusively,butonlywithregardtosomeofitsaspects. Nocompreh- sivede?nitionoftheprincipleoflegalityhasbeenattemptedtodate. Aconclusivede?nitionoftheprincipleoflegalityincriminallawrequiresboth anaccurateinward-lookingde?nitionoftheprincipleitself,andanoutward-lo- ingtreatmentofitsrelationwithcriminallawtheory. Onlyacoherenttheorythat includestheprincipleoflegalityasanintegralpartofcriminallawtheorycando justicetotheprincipleoflegality. Thisviewisconsistentwiththescienti?cconcept oflaw,whichregardsthelawaspartofscience. AModernTreatiseonthePrincipleofLegalityinCriminalLawisthereforea scienti?ctreatiseononeofthefourprinciplesofthecriminallaw. Thepresent treatiseisdividedintosixparts,accordingtothescienti?cunderstandingofthe principleoflegalityincriminallaw.Chapter1explorestherelationbetweenthe principleoflegalityandthegeneraltheoryofcriminallawinthecontextofthe structureandthedevelopmentoftheprincipleoflegalityinhumansociety. This chapter outlines the four secondary principles of the principle of legality, and describesthemingeneralterms. Chapters 2-Thepresentbookisbasedonthelecturesdeliveredbytheauthorinthepastfew yearsaspartoftheCriminalLawcourseoftheFacultyofLawattheOnoAcademic College. There has been little research on the principle of legality in modern criminallaw,althoughthisisoneofthemostancientlegalprinciplesofhuman society. In recent generations there have been several attempts to de?ne the principleconclusively,butonlywithregardtosomeofitsaspects. Nocompreh- sivede?nitionoftheprincipleoflegalityhasbeenattemptedtodate. Aconclusivede?nitionoftheprincipleoflegalityincriminallawrequiresboth anaccurateinward-lookingde?nitionoftheprincipleitself,andanoutward-lo- ingtreatmentofitsrelationwithcriminallawtheory. Onlyacoherenttheorythat includestheprincipleoflegalityasanintegralpartofcriminallawtheorycando justicetotheprincipleoflegality. Thisviewisconsistentwiththescienti?cconcept oflaw,whichregardsthelawaspartofscience.AModernTreatiseonthePrincipleofLegalityinCriminalLawisthereforea scienti?ctreatiseononeofthefourprinciplesofthecriminallaw. Thepresent treatiseisdividedintosixparts,accordingtothescienti?cunderstandingofthe principleoflegalityincriminallaw. Chapter1explorestherelationbetweenthe principleoflegalityandthegeneraltheoryofcriminallawinthecontextofthe structureandthedevelopmentoftheprincipleoflegalityinhumansociety. This chapter outlines the four secondary principles of the principle of legality, and describesthemingeneralterms. Chapters 2-5 discuss in detail each of the four secondary principles of the principleoflegality. Chapter 2discussesthelegitimatesourcesofthecriminal norm,Chap. 3discussestheapplicabilityofthecriminalnormintime,Chap. 4 discussestheapplicabilityofthecriminalnorminplaceandChap. 5discussesthe interpretationofthecriminalnorm. Eachofthefourchaptersconcludeswitha discussionofthecon?ictoflawsissuesrelevanttothesecondaryprincipleunder investigation. Finally,Chap. 6addressestheproblemofthecon?ictoflawswithin thecon?ictsoflawsandroundsoutthediscussion. ix x Preface IwishtothankOnoAcademicCollegeforsupportingthisproject,andespecially DeanofthefacultyoflawandvicechairmanDudiSchwartzforhisstaunchsupport onsomanyimportantoccasions.IthankGabrielLanyiforhiscommentsandAnke SeyfriedofSpringerHeidelbergforguidingthepublicationofthebookfromits inceptiontoitsconclusion. Finally,Iwishtothankmywifeanddaughtersforthe helpfuldiscussionsandsupporttheyofferedalongtheway. KiryatOno,June2010 GabrielHallevy Contents 1 TheMeaningandStructureofthePrincipleofLegality inCriminalLaw ...1 1. 1 TheRoleofthePrincipleofLegalityintheCriminal LawTheory ...1 1. 1. 1 TheBasicStructureofCriminalLawTheory ...1 1. 1. 2 TheBasicStructureofthePrincipleofLegality inCriminalLaw ...5 1. 2 DevelopmentofthePrincipleofLegalityinCriminalLaw andItsModernJusti?cations ...8 2 TheLegitimateSourcesoftheCriminalNorm ...15 2. 1 TheStructureoftheCriminalNormandItsIdenti?cation ...16 2. 1. 1 ValidConditionalClauses ...16 2. 1. 2 CriminalSanction ...17 2. 1. 3 Classi?cationofOffencesBasedonContent ...18 2. 2 TheLegalSourcesoftheCriminalNorm ...20 2. 2. 1 GeneralPrinciples ...20 2. 2. 2 LegalSources ...33 2. 3 Con?ictofLawsBasedonLegitimateSources oftheCriminalNorm ...46 3 ApplicabilityoftheCriminalNorminTime ...49 3. 1 BasicDistinctions ...49 3. 1. 1 DistinctionBetweenProceduralandSubstantive CriminalNorms ...50 3. 1.2 DistinctionBetweenRelevantPointsinTime ...51 3. 1. 3 DistinctionBetweenContinuous,Temporary, andFragmentedCriminalNorms ...55 3. 1. 4 DistinctionBetweenMitigatingandAggravating CriminalNorms ...56 xi xii Contents 3. 2 ApplicabilityoftheProceduralCriminalNorminTime ...58 3. 2. 1 TheGeneralRule ...58 3. 2. 2 ApplicationoftheRule ...61 3. 3 ApplicabilityinTimeoftheSubstantiveCriminalNorm ...67 3. 3. 1 TheGeneralRule ...67 3. 3. 2 ApplicationoftheRule ...71 3. 4 Con?ictofLawsBasedonApplicabilityoftheCriminal NorminTime ...78 4 TheApplicabilityoftheCriminalNorminPlace ...81 4. 1 TheBasicDistinctions ...81 4. 1. 1 DistinctionBetweenApplicabilityandJurisdiction inCriminalLaw ...