Principle of Legality in Criminal Law: Balancing Freedom and Social Order

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Principle of Legality in Criminal Law: Balancing Freedom and Social Order

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Themes

Penal law, principle of legality, crimes, penalties, arbitrariness, human rights, Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, Penal Code, legislative inflation, infractions, criminal law, subsidiarity, social order, individual freedom, public order, statutory sanction, Bentham, jurist, law reformer, offense, misdemeanors, prescription period, strict interpretation, normative character, entrenched rights, penal sanction, auxiliary character, positive law, jurisdictional power, tripartite classification, gravity of infractions, intentional character, punishable nature, complicity, fundamental criminal law, penal judge, normative role, human relationships, judicialized relations, social values, legislative impairment, citizen freedom, arbitrary power, criminal justice, law established prior to offense, legal application, twenty years prescription, six years prescription, one year prescription, Article 111-4, Article 8, Article 111-1

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Abstract

"Discover the cornerstone of criminal law: the principle of legality. This fundamental concept ensures a balance between individual freedom and public order, prohibiting arbitrariness and safeguarding citizens' rights. Defined by Article 6 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, it mandates strict interpretation of penal law (Article 111-4 of the Penal Code). Understand how this principle classifies infractions, maintains social order, and preserves liberty. Learn about the tripartite classification of infractions (Article 111-1 of the Penal Code) and the role of legislative provisions in shaping criminal law. Explore the delicate balance between security and freedom, and the importance of the principle of legality in preventing legislative inflation and protecting human relationships."

Extract

[...] In fact, the legislative inflation of infractions, as a result of which everything is classified, can constitute an infringement on the individual freedom of humans in their individual relationships. Thus, as Yves Mayaud affirms, the infraction breaks the social pact. [...]

[...] This classification tripartite a different consequences on the right penal of fond and of forme. Of a part, the and a a distinction de jurisdictions en function de the offence (The crimes are judged by by the Assize Court, the crimes by the correctional courts and the contraventions by the police courts). On on law penal of form, the délai de prescription joue also ; she is of twenty ans for crimes, six for misdemeanors, and one year for infractions. [...]

[...] The principle of legality of the crimes and of the penalties est essential for the infractions, car the permet de find a balance between the guarantee of individual freedom and the maintenance of public order, while prohibiting the arbitrariness of different jurisdictions. Par of criteria of definition strict and thanks to principle of legality of the crimes and of the penalties, the infraction maintains social order. However, legislative inflation can constitute an infringement on freedom individual. II- Inflation legislative like impairment aux relations human : For nearly a half-century, penal law has faced legislative inflation. [...]

[...] On the one hand, the principle of legality of offenses prohibits the penal judge from exercising a normative role. The penal judge cannot create an offense, he is satisfied with noting and punishing them. In this sense, the judgment of the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation dated January recalls that « the repressive judges can only pronounce a condemnation against a defendant if the pursued fact constitutes a punishable offense. The the law penal is private of a character normative ; the texts of incrimination of droit penal font reference to underlying norms of other branches of law to condemn disrespect and violation of entrenched rights. [...]

[...] The penalty is therefore the consequence of a finding, or an attempt at an infringement. The incrimination of certain behaviors is necessary for to ensure the order social and the sécurité collective. However, the right penal must guarantee a balance between the liberty and the sécurité ; it is in this sens which the penal law selects the behaviors that seem to it the most serious. This discontinuity explains the selective approach of penal law to establish infractions. It is consecrated in the block of constitutionality by article 5 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which provides that « the law has the right to defend only actions harmful to society. [...]

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