Farewell, Nordic Criminal Law? A Kantian Outlook
Guest Lecture
- Date: Jan 12, 2026
- Time: 05:30 PM - 07:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
- Speaker: Prof. Jørn Jacobsen (University of Bergen/Norway)
- Location: Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law
- Room: via Zoom
- Host: Max Planck Research Group “Criminal Law Theory”
- Contact: strafrechtstheorie@csl.mpg.de
Nordic criminal law – a regional expression of what we more broadly call liberal criminal law – is usually seen as a distinct, for some, even exceptional, form of criminal law, characterised by respect for individuals, equality, and values such as humanity and rationality. The low level of repression and welfare-oriented prison systems in the Nordics are frequently referred to as proof. Increasingly, however, the reality of Nordic criminal law, and liberal criminal law more generally, diverges from its normative self-image.
This decline is sometimes interpreted as further evidence against Kant’s rationality project: the irrationality of the social world is taken as empirical proof of Kant’s supposed detachment from reality and the futility of its prospect of a just society of reasonable individuals, the true republic, as Kant calls it. But this take comes at great cost for us and relies on an insufficient appraisal of Kant’s political philosophy. In this lecture, I will offer some Kantian lessons as a guide in troubled times, with rational hope as a key premise, without which, as Kant puts it, “an earnest desire to do something profitable for the general well-being would never have warmed the human heart”.
- The Zoom link will be sent shortly before the event begins. Please register at strafrechtstheorie@csl.mpg.de with the subject line “A Kantian Outlook.”