A Partial Reading of the Principle of Criminal Legality
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Criminal law scholars have agreed that the principle of criminal legality is one of the foundations of criminal systems in a way that leaves no room to say that there is no guarantee of the rights and freedoms of individuals without it. This came about by giving it a political character, which it acquired as a result of the concentration of the authority of legitimate coercion in the hands of the state, and thus giving it a constitutional character that made those in charge of state affairs deal with it as one of the constants and axioms that cannot be debated or disagreed upon. Or to reconsider its content or change its pillars as if it were something assumed and taken for granted, considering that its source is limited to legislation in its formal sense, i.e. issued by the authority constitutionally authorized to legislate and no other, thus expressing the political goal and consecrating the role it plays as the sole source of criminal law, as it is the cornerstone of the structure of criminal law based on assumptions that support the deterrent force of the criminal legislative rule and its legitimacy and validity to protect essential social values and interests. Thus, the criminal text became the only source of criminalization and punishment, and it is the tool used by the state to maintain its security and stability. It emerged as a result of intellectual conflicts and cognitive enlightenment based on the fact that authorities should not be absolute without controls that restrict them and clarify their limits. It is known that this principle came as a reaction to the control of judges and the concentration of all authorities in their hands, which resulted in the violation of the rights and freedoms of individuals and their surroundings with danger. Perhaps this is what justifies its stagnation and cruelty, to the extent that its founders did not even think about its decline or decline under any circumstances, and they did not take into account the change in the nature of crime from national to cross-border. However, its immortality and stability have become a kind of impossibility in the face of the development that the world is witnessing from one moment to the next and in the face of what is required by effective criminal justice. There is nothing constant or eternal except the Holy Quran. Accordingly, the main question under investigation is: To what extent is the principle of criminal legitimacy susceptible to decline and decline? What is the impact of criminal transformation and internationalization on establishing its foundations in its current situation?
Source: Al-Qurtas
DOI: 10.66045/aq90mlkop
Author: Najat Saeed
Institution: Azzaytuna University
Language: English
Topic: Criminal Law and Policy
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7130818535