Toward a Constitutional Law of Crime and Punishment

Abstract

Procedural criminal law is heavily constitutionalized, whereas substantive criminal law has largely escaped constitutional scrutiny. In this article, Professor Markus Dubber lays out a framework for the development of a general constitutional law of crime and punishment, with a particular emphasis on the general and special part of substantive criminal law. Constitutional criminal law, Dubber argues, rests on the concept of respect for the autonomy and dignity of persons that is reflected in such constitutional guarantees as the right to due process and the proscription against cruel and unusual punishments.

Keywords: criminal law, constitutional law, autonomy, dignity

JEL Classification: K14, K30