Department of Criminal Law

Head of project: Valerij Zisman
Normative debates often rely on theories about what is right and wrong. In the case of punishment theory, for ex­am­ple, retributivists often rely on deontological theories, while proponents of deterrence theory draw from utilitari­an­ism. more

Heads of project: Valerij Zisman, Ivó Co­ca-Vi­la
What role does the relationship between the state and its citizens play for criminal law theory? A number of in­flu­en­tial scholars assume that criminal law must be founded on a bond of citizenship between the offender and the state that reinforces the legitimacy of criminal punishment. If this is the case, how does this assumption affect the state’s standing when it punishes non-citizens or “semi-citizens”? more

Head of project: Valerij Zisman
In the past, theorizing in criminal law was seen as a primarily philosophical and legal enterprise. Recently, scholars have begun trying to combine research from moral and social psychology, which investigate what drives people to impose punishment, with the normative literature on punishment theory. more

Head of project: Lucas Montenegro
Confiscation as a legal consequence of a criminal offense is becoming in­creas­ingly important worldwide, particu­larly in the fight against economic crime. The increasing relevance of this kind of confiscation goes hand in hand with the in­creasing flexibility of traditional criminal law principles. more

Head of project: Cristina Valega Chipoco
The outcome of this research project will be a contribution to an edited volume coordinated by the Universidad del Rosario (Colombia) and the Network of Latin American Law Scholars (Red ALAS). The overall aim of the book is to examine condom deception as a form of sexual violence from a legal perspective, focusing on the unique nature of the Latin American and Caribbean contexts. more