P005. A measure for values. A quantitative exploration of the legal configuration of punishment

• In Event: Poster Session & Ice Cream Social

Abstract

Traditionally, the goods and ills of criminal law and punishment have been considered from a normative standpoint, where values and principles take a central role, and legal dialectics function as the primary method to iron-out regulatory imperfection.
This approach, while essential, does not often allow one to see the bigger picture and thus to grasp if the core principles of criminal punishment are consistently applied throughout legislation. Particular doubts can be raised about proportionality, which isn’t often examined as a feature of the regulation as a whole.
In this poster we aim to present the methodological approach and preliminary results of a quantitative exploration of the different penalties established in the Spanish Criminal Code. We intend to show that such an approach sheds a different light on legal discussion while also providing discrete measures to guide and ground the debate over values.

Authors

• Adrián Rico, University of Alicante

• Dyango Bonsignore, University of Alicante