Criminal Law – General Theory: Principles of criminal law (legality, culpability, proportionality) — The Principle of Legality
Why no one may be punished without a clear, written law in force before the act, and what that rules out for judges and lawmakers.
Try 3 questions
1. What does the maxim "nullum crimen sine lege" require?
- A confession before any criminal conviction
- A victim who files a formal complaint
- A prior law defining the conduct as a crime
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Answer: A prior law defining the conduct as a crime
"No crime without law": conduct can only be punished if a law already described it as a crime when it was committed.
2. Which jurist coined the Latin formula "nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege" in the early 1800s?
- Montesquieu
- Cesare Beccaria
- Paul Johann Anselm von Feuerbach
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Answer: Paul Johann Anselm von Feuerbach
Feuerbach phrased it in his 1801 criminal law textbook; Beccaria and Montesquieu had defended the underlying idea earlier without the formula.
3. Someone does something legal; a year later a new law makes it a crime. Can they be punished for that earlier act?
- Yes, if the act is still harmful today
- Yes, if prosecuted within the time limit
- No, criminal laws cannot apply retroactively
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Answer: No, criminal laws cannot apply retroactively
The ban on retroactive criminal laws (lex praevia) means conduct is judged by the law in force when it took place.
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