Department of Criminal Law

Head of project: Tatjana Hörnle
The law of sexual offenses plays only a marginal role in German law school cur­ricula, largely because the subject is not tested on the state law exams. As a re­sult, there is as yet no comprehensive account of German sexual offenses law that both provides a clear, concise overview of the material and meets the standards of legal scholarship. more

Head of project: Otava Piha
Can criminal law be effectively leveraged to punish unsustainable acts and pro­mote a more sustainable society? Traditional criminal offenses, such as rape, assault, and theft, are typically committed when one or more individ­u­als violate legal norms and harm others through discrete acts. In contrast, the sustainabil­ity crises (climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution), which threaten the sur-vival of the entire human species and all life on Earth, are due in part to large numbers of people behaving in ways that are generally considered acceptable and even positive: eating well, traveling widely, and living comfortably. more

Head of project: Paul Rehren
This project investigates the conditions under which empirical research from psychology and related disciplines can inform normative argument. Drawing in part on detailed case studies from punishment theory, Rehren identifies re­cur­ring inferential challenges in the interpretation of empirical data and examines the extent to which existing empirically-informed work in normative theory succeeds in addressing them. more

Head of project: Lukas Huthmann
As societies evolve, so do the conditions under which law emerges, is applied, and is understood. These developments affect not only substantive criminal law but also the procedural rules that govern the course of criminal proceedings and the decisions made by prosecuting authorities. more

Head of project: Lucas Montenegro
“Among a democratic nation (...) it is impossible ever to agree beforehand on what shall or shall not be allowed by the laws of honour”. Alexis de Tocqueville stated this thesis in his work “De la démocratie en Amérique”* and based it on the leveling of social classes and the volatility of public opinion in a democratic state. more