"These studies recover the historical roots of thinking that are in conflict with, and critical of, present-day tendencies. Criminological theory over the last few decades has oscillated between extremes: on one side there are calls for increasing the state exercise of punitive power as the only means of providing security, in the face of both urban and international rime; while the other side highlights the need for reducing the exercise of punitive power because of the paradoxical effects that it produces. Useful for academics, practitioners, professionals and students, this book will certainly contribute to a wider awareness in crime prevention and criminal justice."--Publisher's website.

This book examines the simultaneous protection of fundamental rights by various norms and jurisdictional organs, focussing on the multilevel protection of the principle of legality in Criminal Law.Written by accredited specialists in criminal law, constitutional law, international public law, and the philosophy of law, the majority of them ex-Counsels of the Spanish Constitutional Court, it addresses various manifestations of the principle of legality: the requirement of precision, the judicial subjection to law and the prohibition of bis in idem. It does so not only from a theoretical perspective, but also through a comparative study of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Court of Justice of the European Union and state constitutional courts. This practical approach characterizes the book, which culminates in a detailed analysis of the relevant ECtHR Judgement Del Río Prada v. Spain on the retroactivity of unfavourable jurisprudence."Multilevel protection of the principle of legality in Criminal Law" is a useful instrument of reflection for scholars of both the principle of criminal legality and the problems that arise from the concurrency of protective jurisdictions of human rights.

El presente estudio busca resolver un problema en la aplicación del derecho internacional: la implementación de tipos penales en la ley penal nacional a partir de las obligaciones internacionales. El dilema jurídico consiste en conciliar las obligaciones que tienen los Estados, derivadas de los tratados de represión penal, con las exigencias del derecho penal democrático, previsto en las constituciones y en los derechos humanos. A este ejercicio de equilibrio se le denomina técnica de la equivalencia funcional. Se toma como modelo de aplicación la desaparición forzada de personas por la complejidad del crimen internacional. Su regulación internacional está prevista en diversos tratados, las conductas son diversas pero entrelazadas y los elementos son diferentes. Así, es un buen caso de estudio para la aplicación de esta técnica. Además, el estudio se realiza con base en la legislación mexicana, que sirve también como modelo de análisis dentro de un marco legal ya existente.