This handbook consists of essays on contemporary issues in criminal law and their theoretical underpinnings. Some of the essays deal with the relationship between morality and criminalization. Others deal with criminalization in the context of specific crimes such as fraud, blackmail, and revenge pornography. The contributors also address questions of responsible agency such as the effects of addiction or insanity, and some deal with punishment, its mode and severity, and the justness of the state’s imposition of it. These chapters are authored by some of the most distinguished scholars in the fields of applied ethics, criminal law, and jurisprudence.

Crime research has grown substantially over the past decade, with a rise in evidence-informed approaches to criminal justice, statistics-driven decision-making and predictive analytics. The fuel that has driven this growth is data – and one of its most pressing challenges is the lack of research on the use and interpretation of data sources. This accessible, engaging book closes that gap for researchers, practitioners and students. International researchers and crime analysts discuss the strengths, perils and opportunities of the data sources and tools now available and their best use in informing sound public policy and criminal justice practice.

Presenting cutting-edge research and scholarship, this extensive volume covers everything from abstract theorising about the meanings of responsibility and how we blame, to analysing criminal law and justice responses, and factors that impact individual responsibility. Inviting exchanges across a burgeoning critical scholarship on criminal responsibility, this Handbook showcases the diverse range of methodologies applied to the field, including socio-political approaches, critical historical methods, criminological and sociological perspectives, and interdisciplinary studies bridging law and the mind sciences. Spanning global networks of established and emerging scholars of responsibility for crime, this book explores how we relate to one another as human beings under the spotlight of the criminal law. In doing so, it is hoped that the collection not only does justice to the vibrant landscape of criminal responsibility studies, but inspires new directions and future synergies in this compelling field. The Routledge International Handbook of Criminal Responsibility will appeal to scholars and students of criminal law, criminal justice, criminology, sociology, psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and socio-legal studies, as well as practitioners and policymakers working in related fields.

This book argues that ignorance of law should usually be a complete excuse from criminal liability. It defends this conclusion by invoking two presumptions: first, the content of criminal law should conform to morality; second, mistakes of fact and mistakes of law should be treated symmetrically. The author grounds his position in an underlying theory of moral and criminal responsibility according to which blameworthiness consists in a defective response to the moral reasons one has. Since persons cannot be faulted for failing to respond to reasons for criminal liability they do not believe they have, then ignorance should almost always excuse. But persons are somewhat responsible for their wrongs when their mistakes of law are reckless, that is, when they consciously disregard a substantial and unjustifiable risk that their conduct might be wrong. This book illustrates this with examples and critiques the arguments to the contrary offered by criminal theorists and moral philosophers. It assesses the real-world implications for the U.S. system of criminal justice. The author describes connections between the problem of ignorance of law and other topics in moral and legal theory.

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the legal questions that arise for the legislative branch when implementing the crime of aggression into domestic law. Despite being the “supreme international crime” that gave birth to international criminal law in Nuremberg, its ICC Statute definition has been incorporated into domestic law by fewer than 20 States. The crime of aggression was also omitted in the rich debate held among German scholars in the early 2000s regarding the legislative implementation of other ICC Statute crimes. The current inability of the International Criminal Court to respond to the Russian aggression towards Ukraine invites the continuation of these academic debates without neglecting the particularities of the crime of aggression. The fundamental issues discussed in this volume include the obligation to criminalize aggression, the core wrong of the crime, the normative gaps under domestic law and the jurisdictional gaps under the ICC Statute. To facilitate the operationalization of domestic implementation, the book explores the technical options for incorporating the definition into domestic law, the geographical ambit of domestic jurisdiction—most notably universal jurisdiction—as well as legal challenges such as immunities. The book is aimed primarily at researchers and States with an interest in the domestic implementation of international criminal law but those already working in the field should also find much of interest contained within it. Dr. Annegret Hartig is Program Director of the Global Institute for the Prevention of Aggression and worked as a researcher at the University of Hamburg where she obtained her doctoral degree in international criminal law.

This edited book promotes and facilitates cybercrime research by providing a cutting-edge collection of perspectives on the critical usage of online data across platforms, as well as the implementation of both traditional and innovative analysis methods. The accessibility, variety and wealth of data available online presents substantial opportunities for researchers from different disciplines to study cybercrimes and, more generally, human behavior in cyberspace. The unique and dynamic characteristics of cyberspace often demand cross-disciplinary and cross-national research endeavors, but disciplinary, cultural and legal differences can hinder the ability of researchers to collaborate. This work also provides a review of the ethics associated with the use of online data sources across the globe. The authors are drawn from multiple disciplines and nations, providing unique insights into the value and challenges evident in online data use for cybercrime scholarship. It is a key text for researchers at the upper undergraduate level and above.