Acta Universitatis Carolinae Iuridica (AUCI) is the main journal of the Faculty of Law of Charles University. It has been published since 1954 and is one of the traditional law journals with a theoretical focus.
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AUCI is a theoretical journal for questions of state and law. It is published by Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Law, through Karolinum Press. It is published four times a year, the dates of publication can be found here.
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AUC IURIDICA, Vol 72 No 2 (2026), 7–23
ArticlePrincipy kriminalizace
[Principles of Criminalization]
Šimon Otruba
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14712/23366478.2026.90
published online: 29. 05. 2026
abstract
This article examines the principles that should guide decisions on whether to criminalize certain conduct. Drawing on the works of Ashworth, Horder, Simester, von Hirsch, Duff, Husak, Hörnle, and other prominent scholars, it identifies and synthesizes the key principles of criminalization – the harm principle, the wrongfulness principle, the public wrong principle, and the principle of effective and proportional regulation. On this basis, the article proposes a seven-point checklist providing practical guidance for assessing the appropriateness of criminal sanctions for a given act. The checklist applies only those principles on which a significant number of legal theorists agree, reflecting the widely shared view that no single universal principle can answer all questions of criminalization. The article concludes that these principles are generally well reflected in Czech criminal law, but highlights concerns about overly broad statutory definitions and insufficient use of alternatives to criminalization. It suggests that further development of domain-specific criminalization theories and a more rigorous constitutional review of criminal offences could strengthen the coherence of Czech criminal law.
keywords: principles; criminalization; policies
references (20)
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Principy kriminalizace is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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ISSN: 0323-0619
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