Criminal Law

(4 Credits)

How does law concern itself with crime? Indeed, how is crime defined in law and is its conceptualization temporally determined? This course will seek to examine the notion of criminality with reference to the subject of the 'criminal' and the juridical apparatus that seeks to punish it. Here, we will look at juridical concepts of criminal responsibility as well as key criminal legal doctrines. We will situate the juridical notions alongside social, political, and historical contexts. For this we will engage with various perspectives on the historical developments of the idea of punishment, and conclude with the contemporary criminological turn to the management of crime through preventative measures, and surveillance technologies.