Limiting the extent to which legislators should obey society’s requests for criminalisation and harsh punishment of certain offences

• In Event: Crime, Science and Politics WG Panel 3. Society’s role in Criminal Policy Making

Abstract

Recent history has witnessed a strong shift towards populist policies, either expressed as a political programme or actually implemented in certain jurisdictions and regarding certain aspects. Unfortunately, criminal law has not been shielded by such approaches. Of course, the law should develop in a manner that reflects the social paradigm of a certain period. As social values change over time, the law should adapt accordingly both in regard to the conducts it criminalises and in regard to the penalties it prescribes for different offences. However, a question arises: should the legislator fully mirror society’s wishes or should the legislators ignore what it considers unjustified or exaggerated requests? If the correct answer is the latter, where should the limit be set and what are the methods by which the legislator would determine which requests are well founded and which requests are to be disregarded?

Author

• Dragoș Pârgaru, Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest