Crisis of the Criminal Law in the Democratic Constitutional State: Manifestations and Trends

325 Pages·2023·5.317 MB·English

by  Eduardo Demetrio Crespo, Alfonso García Figueroa, Gema Marcilla Córdoba

Legal Studies in International,
European and Comparative Criminal Law 6
Eduardo Demetrio Crespo
Alfonso García Figueroa
Gema Marcilla Córdoba   Editors
Crisis
of the Criminal Law
in the Democratic
Constitutional State
Manifestations and Trends
Legal Studies in International, European and
Comparative Criminal Law
Volume 6
Editor-in-Chief
StefanoRuggeri,DepartmentofLaw,UniversityofMessina,Messina,Italy
EditorialBoardMembers
ChiaraAmalfitano,UniversityofMilan,Milan,Italy
LorenaBachmaierWinter ,FacultyofLaw,ComplutenseUniversityofMadrid,
Madrid,Spain
MartinBöse,FacultyofLaw,UniversityofBonn,Bonn,Germany
LorenzoMateoBujosaVadell,FacultyofLaw,UniversityofSalamanca,
Salamanca,Spain
IgnacioColomerHernández,FacultyofLaw,University‘PablodeOlavide’,
Seville,Spain
PaulodeSousaMendes,FacultyofLaw,UniversityofLisbon,Lisbon,Portugal
EduardoDemetrioCrespo,UniversityofCastile-LaMancha,Toledo,Spain
GiuseppeDiChiara,LawSchool,UniversityofPalermo,Palermo,Italy
AlbertoDiMartino,Sant’AnnaSchoolofAdvancedStudies,Pisa,Italy
SabineGleß,UniversityofBasel,Basel,Switzerland
KrisztinaKarsai,DepartmentofCriminalLaw,UniversityofSzeged,Szeged,
Hungary
AlessioLoGiudice,LawDepartment,UniversityofMessina,Messina,Italy
VincenzoMilitello,DiptoSciGiuridiche,dellaSocietà,UniversityofPalermo,
Palermo,Italy
OrestePollicino,ComparativePublicLaw,BocconiUniversity,Milan,Italy
SerenaQuattrocolo,DepartmentofLaw,UniversityofPiemonteOrientale,
Alessandria,Italy
TommasoRafaraci,DepartmentofLaw,UniversityofCatania,Catania,Italy
LuciaRisicato,LawDepartment,UniversityofMessina,Messina,Italy
ArndtSinn,FacultyofLaw,UniversityofOsnabrück,Osnabrück,Niedersachsen,
Germany
FrancescoViganò,BocconiUniversity,Milan,Italy
RichardVogler,SussexLawSchool,UniversityofSussex,Brighton,UK
The main purpose of this book series is to provide sound analyses of major
developmentsinnational,EUandinternationallawandcaselaw,aswellasinsights
into court practice and legislative proposals in the areas concerned. The analyses
addressabroad readership,suchaslawyersandpractitioners,whilealsoproviding
guidanceforcourts.Intermsofscope,theseriesencompassesfourmainareas,the
first of which concerns international criminal law and especially international case
law in relevant criminal law subjects. The second addresses international human
rights law with a particular focus on the impact of international jurisprudences on
nationalcriminallawandcriminaljusticesystems,aswellastheirinterrelations.In
turnthethirdareafocusesonEuropeancriminallawandcaselaw.Here,particular
weight will be attached to studies on European criminal law conducted from a
comparativeperspective.Thefourthandfinalareapresentssurveysofcomparative
criminal law inside and outside Europe. By combining these various aspects, the
series especially highlights research aimed at proposing new legal solutions, while
focusing on the new challenges of a European area based on high standards of
humanrightsprotection.
Asarule,bookproposalsaresubjecttopeerreview,whichiscarriedoutbytwo
membersoftheeditorialboardinanonymousform.
(cid:129)
Eduardo Demetrio Crespo Alfonso García
(cid:129)
Figueroa Gema Marcilla Córdoba
Editors
Crisis of the Criminal Law
in the Democratic
Constitutional State
Manifestations and Trends
Editors
EduardoDemetrioCrespo AlfonsoGarcíaFigueroa
FacultyofLegalandSocialSciences FacultyofLegalandSocialSciences
UniversityofCastilla-LaMancha UniversityofCastilla-LaMancha
Toledo,Spain Toledo,Spain
GemaMarcillaCórdoba
FacultyofLaw
UniversityofCastilla-LaMancha
Albacete,Spain
ISSN2524-8049 ISSN2524-8057 (electronic)
LegalStudiesinInternational,EuropeanandComparativeCriminalLaw
ISBN978-3-031-13412-8 ISBN978-3-031-13413-5 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13413-5
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Foreword
It is a great pleasure for me to welcome in the Book Series Legal Studies in
International, European and Comparative Criminal Law this excellent volume,
coordinated by Eduardo Demetrio Crespo, Alfonso García Figueroa, and Gema
Marcilla Córdoba. Again, our Series provides readers with a topic that cuts across
variousareasofcriminallawandclearlyrevealsthebenefitsofaninterdisciplinary
approach to face the difficult challenges with which criminal law studies are more
and more confronted. But the kind request of my friend and colleague Eduardo
DemetrioCrespo,whoaskedmetowritethisforeword,filledmewithparticularjoy
and satisfaction. This book, indeed, provides an extraordinary synthesis of several
key issues that highlight the tremendous developments which criminal law has
undergone due to the deep changes that occurred in current societies, but also the
notlessremarkabledevelopmentsthathavetakenplaceindemocraticconstitutional
modelsasaresultofnewlegislativepoliciesandjurisprudentialarrangements.
Therefore, building bridges with philosophy of law (as was emblematically
indicated in the last meeting of the research project that led to this book) is not
only an added value but furthermore indicates the best methodology to fully
understand the connections between such complex phenomena which characterise
the evolution of modern states and legal orders. These bridges, indeed, set the
foundationsfornewtheoreticalandpracticalapproaches,whichmustremaincoher-
ent with the main principles of a criminal law oriented towards constitutional law,
while dealing with the huge problems arising from unprecedented criminal situa-
tions.Thisinturnshowsanotherunquestionablemeritofthisresearch,whichunifies
the selected manifestations of the crisis of criminal law and democratic states in a
multilevel framework that calls for in-depth reflection on the classical pillars of
criminallaw,suchastheultimaratioprincipleandtheaimsofpunishment.Bythis
means, the viewpoint of the crisis of criminal law systems leads to a critical
examinationoftheruleoflawanddemocracy.Thereisaclearfilerougethatlinks
together the four main parts of this book, since hate speech crimes, punitive
feminism, and so on, reveal the rising tendency of criminal law to broaden its
scopeofapplication.Oneofthemostworrisomeresultsofthisexpansivetendency
v
vi Foreword
is surely the anticipation of criminal law intervention, which is often accompanied
by the fragmentation of the factual components of several offences in which often
neutralbehavioursgaincriminallawrelevancethatisoftendependentonsubjective
elements;atendencythatinvarioussituationsentailstheseriousriskofashiftback
towardsdangerousformsofTäterstrafrecht.
There is little doubt that a proper understanding of such problematic areas pre-
supposescleartheoreticalcoordinates,whichinturnplayanessentialroletoredefine
the functions of criminal law in post-modern societies within democratic systems.
Moreover, the insight into the causes of a widespread crisis of criminal law also
provides the opportunity for a “crisis” in its original Greek meaning, that is, for a
critical assessmentof new manifestationsand trends with aview toidentifyingthe
limitswithinwhichcriminallawinterventionfindsitsjustificationinconstitutional
systemstoday.Theintegratedapproachofthisstudy,therefore,allowscriminallaw
tobeconfrontedwithitselfandtofindtheboundariesthatitmustimposeuponitself
to maintain its legitimacy in democratic states. These demanding goals call upon
lawmakers and practitioners to carry out their respective tasks by fulfilling the
difficult challenges set by the growing inter-legality, particularly in regional areas,
such as the EU area of freedom security and justice, in which intricated legislative
tanglewebsandthemultipleformsofinteractionbetweendomesticjurisprudences,
and supranational and international case-law, have strongly contributed to the
evolutionofcriminallawsystemsbutalsototheircrisis.
Butthisexcellentresearchgoesevenbeyondthislevel,thusproposingarecon-
struction of the role of criminal law in democratic constitutional states by way of
examining further essential problems with increasingly interfere with the proper
functioning of criminal law in its inevitable relationships with other social factors.
Theanalysisofhighlycriticalphenomena,suchasforceddisappearances,conflictual
situations, and contentious politics, reveals enormous difficulties which inevitably
leadcriminallawtostretchitsownboundarieswhileshowingtheneedforsolution
models that cannot solely be reduced to punitive responses. Moreover, a proper
assessmentofthefactorsofcrisiswouldprobablybeimpossiblewithoutaninsight
intotheinteractionbetweencriminallawandcommunicativeprocesses,whichcan
giverisetoproblematicrelationshipsbetweencriminaltrialsandothermechanisms
offact-finding,butalsoplayakeyroletoallowcriminallawtosatisfyitsownaims
ofsocialorientationofhumanbehaviours,particularlyinthedigitalera.
I am therefore very grateful to the editors of this book and all contributors for
enrichingourSerieswiththisstimulatingstudy,whichwillcertainlybeoftheutmost
interestforbothacademicsandpractitioners,andIhopethereaderswillenjoythis
bookasmuchasIdid.
DipartamentodiGiurisprudenza StefanoRuggeri
“S.Pugliatti”,UniversitádiMessina,
Messina,Italy
4August2022
Preface
Introduction: About the Research Project Crisis
of the Criminal Law of Constitutional State of Law
(CRESTA)
Weareverypleasedtopublishthisvolume,whichistheresultoftheresearchproject
Criminal Law Crisis of the Rule of Law: Manifestations and Trends, in which
criminal lawyers and legal philosophers have joined forces to address some key
issuesthatneedtobeapproachedfrombothsides.Thiscooperationandcloseness,
which we believe to be essential, has a long tradition in both the Anglo-American
andcontinentalEuropeanspheres,buthasbeenlosingstrengthovertimeinfavorof
amisunderstoodspecialization.Fromtheoutset,ourobjectivewastomakeacross-
cutting analysis of the factors behind the crisis of what can be called the “criminal
lawoftheruleoflaw,”understoodinturnasthemostvisiblesymptomofthe“crisis
of democracy,” something about which there is growing evidence. To this end, it
wasessentialtomakeanin-depthstudyofwhetheritwaspossibletospeakabouta
paradigm shift in the foundations of punitive intervention, without losing sight of
fourmajorareasoflegalknowledge,namely,epistemic,axiological,theoretical,and
phenomenological.
Thereasoning,apparentlysimple,involveddealingwithanextraordinarilycom-
plex and changing object of study, since it requires a retrospective look at the
historical-conceptualbasesofiuspuniendifromtheperspectiveoftheconstitutional
state, but also the analysis of everything that has been transforming the “good old
liberalcriminallaw”untilitbecamewhatwenowknow,whichcanbedefinedasa
strangesetofelementsthathavelittletodowitheachother.Relevantauthorssuchas
Ulrich Beck (The Metamorphosis of the World), Harmut Rosa (Resonance. A
Sociology of the Relationship with the World), or Yuval Noa Harari (Homo Deus.
ABriefHistoryofTomorrow)giveanaccountfromtheperspectiveofsociologyor
historyoftheimmensedifficultyofunderstandingthedangersfacingliberaldemoc-
racyinthese times byvirtueofanotherimage ofhuman beings (“Menschenbild”),
vii
viii Preface
another image of the world (“Weltbild”) and the difficult dichotomy that arises
betweendoctrines(“Glaubenssätze”)andspacesforaction(“Handlungsräume”).
Indeed, if democratic criminal law is based internally on a series of guarantees
derivedfromFundamentalRights—whichmeansthat,perdefinitionem,notjustany
criminallawispossibleinastategovernedbytheruleoflaw—thismeansthatsome
deviations cannot be admitted in principle, which does not mean remaining indif-
ferenttothechallengesposedbythenewphenomenaofcriminality.Althoughthere
aremanypossibleclassificationsofthestudysub-areas,inthisprojectweproceeded
to group them around four axes: (a) the theory of the goals of punishment as a
framework theory of criminal law regarding the legitimization of punishment and,
within this, the rise of retributive justice and its link to certain phenomena that are
clearly present in the “spirit of our time” or Zeitgeist that inevitably marks an era;
(b)second,andincloseconnectionwiththeadvancesintheTheoryandPhilosophy
ofLaw,theparalleltransformationsthataretakingplaceintheveryconceptofthe
RuleofLaw;(c)third,thepermanentexpansionofCriminalLaw,bothintermsof
thefieldofaction(legalassetsprotectedandclassificationtechniquesused),aswell
asthepunitiverigorandrelativizationofguarantees,whereitisessentialtoproceed
toestablishareasofaction;and,(d)finally,itwasnecessarynottolosesightofhow
thevariableofdangerousnesshasbeenunderminingthecriminallawoftheactbased
on the seriousness of the behavior and the perpetrator’s guilty as defined by the
principleofproportionality.
Therefore, the four parts of the table of contents of this volume respond to that
initial structure and contain articles that we are convinced will generate maximum
interest. Throughout this time, we have had the opportunity to meet on several
occasions to celebrate seminars with the participation of colleagues of the highest
level who have not been able to send a written contribution, but to whom we are
gratefulfortheirvaluableinsights.Inthefirstofthesemeetings(2019),wepresented
thefirstdraftsofthepapersandbenefitedfromthesynergiesarisingamongallofus;
inthesecondone(2020),whichhadtobeheldinvirtualmodeduetothepandemic
thathasaffectedtheplanet,thelevelofthelecturesanddiscussionswassuchthatall
thosewhoattendedcouldrealizethatitwasimpossiblenottobeenrichedandlearna
lot from such an “intellectual climate”; in the third and last one (2021), entitled
BuildingBridgesbetweenCriminalLawandthePhilosophyofLaw,wewantedto
record the spirit that has moved us all this time and which we would like to see
continuedinthefuture.
ButwedonotwanttoendwithoutexpressingourdeepappreciationtotheProf.
Stefano Ruggeri for accepting to write a short introduction of the book and to
Mónica de la Cuerda Martín and Faustino García de la Torre García, without
whose enormous effort at the head of all the organizational tasks we would hardly
havebeenabletoachievetheseresults.
Toledo,Spain EduardoDemetrioCrespo
Toledo,Spain AlfonsoGarcíaFigueroa
Albacete,Spain GemaMarcillaCórdoba
4August2022
Contents
PartI LegitimacyofPunishmentintheDemocraticConstitutional
State
IsItPossibletoLimitthePenalInterventionintheTwenty-First
Century?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
MirentxuCorcoyBidasolo
ReviewonRetributionasPunishmentPurpose. . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. 17
EduardoDemetrioCrespo
CrisesoftheUltimaRatioPrinciple:ShallWeResumethe
ConstitutionalCriminalLawGuidance?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
FaustinoGarcíadelaTorreGarcía
EnforcedDisappearance:APrecedentoftheEnemyCriminalLaw. . . . 57
FernandoRovettaKlyver
PartII CrisisofWarrantyThinkingintheDemocraticConstitutional
StateandCriminalLaw
CriminalLawandLegalTheory:NotJustLegalDogmatics,
butNeverWithoutIt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
MiguelDíazyGarcíaConlledo
ThePopulistTracesofPunitiveFeminism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
AlfonsoGarcíaFigueroa
Harm,Offense,andHateSpeech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
VictorGomezMartin
ForaFeministandGuarantism-BasedMethodologyinthe
CriminalProtectionofSexualFreedom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
GemaMarcillaCórdoba
ix