Central Issues in Criminal Theory

Contemporary criminal theory is much exercised by the apparent contradictions and ambiguities characterizing criminal law doctrine. Is this an inevitable part of the territory leading us to question the very possibility of criminal law delivering justice, or, as the author prefers, is criminal justice an achievement in which one of the tasks of criminal theory is to set goals and identify deficiencies in a constant effort to improve the form and content of rules and procedures? Informed by this premise the book explores some of the key questions in criminal theory, addressing first the ethics of criminalization and punishment. It continues with an examination of the structure of criminal liability with its emphasis on separating consideration of the objective conditions of wrongdoing from the features which make a person responsible for it. Finally it examines attempts and accessoryship with a view to exploring the doctrinal tensions which may arise when competing justifications for criminalization and punishment collide.