Fundamentos del Derecho Penal y Teoría del Delito I

General information

Type:	BAS	Curs:	1	Period:	S semester
ECTS Credits:	5 ECTS

Teaching Staff:

Group	Teacher	Department	Language
	Marc García Solé	Derecho	ESP

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites.

Workload distribution

- Classroom sessions: approximately 40% of credits
- Guided activities: approx. 30% of credits
- Independent study: approx. 30% of credits

COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO PROGRAM

This course relfects on the role and function of Criminal Law within Public Law. It also considers the relationships, complementariness, subordination and prevalence of Criminal Law with regard to other areas of the legal system.

Course Learning Objectives

Students have to be able to:
- Learn the principals and foundations of criminal law: its function and areas of application.

Competences

6. Strategic thought, systematic thought

6. Strategic thought, systematic thought

Relation between Activities and Competences

	6
Assigments and exercises
Active class participation
Exams

CONTENT

1. BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINAL LAW: ITS FUNCTION AND AREA OF APPLICATION Lesson 1 Criminal Law: concept, guiding principles and evolution. Objective and subjective Criminal Law. Limits to "ius puniendi": the Principle of Legality asexternal conditioning and the guiding principles of Criminal Law as internal conditioning: principles of minimum intervention, subsidiarity, independence and fragmentary nature. The principle of exclusive protection of legal rights. The principal of guilt: limits stemming from this principle. The principles of humanity and human dignity in sentence enforcement. The principle of notoriety. Lesson 2 The principle of legality. The principle of legality in the 1978 Spanish Constitution and in Positive Law. Guarantees stemming from the principle of legality. Lesson 3 The concept of legal-criminal norms. Norms as rules of determination and evaluation. Doctrinal positions and their relation with defined illegal acts. Lesson 4 Sources of Criminal Law and the latter's interpretation. Law as the source of Criminal Law. Indirect sources. Customs and general legal principles. Jurisprudence. Interpreting Criminal Law: types, interpretation and prohibition of analogies. Differences between analogies and broad interpretations. Interpretation, subsumption and application. Lesson 5 Temporal validity of Criminal Law. Enactment and repeal of Criminal Laws. The principle of legality and the prohibition of retroactivity. Non-retroactivity as a norm and favourable retroactivity as an exception. Effectiveness of intermediate and temporal laws. The problem with retroactivity in security measures and in procedural laws. Lesson 6 Spatial validity of Criminal Law. Criminal Law in the international area. Extraterritorial nature of Criminal Law. Extradition. Lesson 7 Punishment. Punishment theories as theories in Criminal Law. Absolute and relative theories. Concepts and criticisms. The so-called "mixed" theories. Current thought on punishment theory. The meaning of 'minimal Criminal Law'. Lesson 8 The science of Criminal Law. Legal dogma, criminal policy. Criminology.

1. BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINAL LAW: ITS FUNCTION AND AREA OF APPLICATION

Lesson 1
Criminal Law: concept, guiding principles and evolution. Objective and subjective Criminal Law. Limits to "ius puniendi": the Principle of Legality asexternal conditioning and the guiding principles of Criminal Law as internal conditioning: principles of minimum intervention, subsidiarity, independence and fragmentary nature. The principle of exclusive protection of legal rights. The principal of guilt: limits stemming from this principle. The principles of humanity and human dignity in sentence enforcement. The principle of notoriety.

Lesson 2
The principle of legality. The principle of legality in the 1978 Spanish Constitution and in Positive Law. Guarantees stemming from the principle of legality.

Lesson 3
The concept of legal-criminal norms. Norms as rules of determination and evaluation. Doctrinal positions and their relation with defined illegal acts.

Lesson 4
Sources of Criminal Law and the latter's interpretation. Law as the source of Criminal Law. Indirect sources. Customs and general legal principles. Jurisprudence. Interpreting Criminal Law: types, interpretation and prohibition of analogies. Differences between analogies and broad interpretations. Interpretation, subsumption and application.

Lesson 5
Temporal validity of Criminal Law. Enactment and repeal of Criminal Laws. The principle of legality and the prohibition of retroactivity. Non-retroactivity as a norm and favourable retroactivity as an exception. Effectiveness of intermediate and temporal laws. The problem with retroactivity in security measures and in procedural laws.

Lesson 6
Spatial validity of Criminal Law. Criminal Law in the international area. Extraterritorial nature of Criminal Law. Extradition.

Lesson 7
Punishment. Punishment theories as theories in Criminal Law. Absolute and relative theories. Concepts and criticisms. The so-called "mixed" theories. Current thought on punishment theory. The meaning of 'minimal Criminal Law'.

Lesson 8
The science of Criminal Law. Legal dogma, criminal policy. Criminology.

Relation between Activities and Contents

	1
Assigments and exercises
Active class participation
Exams

Methodology

Teaching modes: theoretical or lecture classes, participatory sessions.

Teaching-learning methodology:
The aim of the participatory sessions is to analyse and resolve theoretical debates raised in the readings and discussed in class. At the same time, these sessions aim to provide students with the basic tools they need to understand legal texts. The lectures serve to develop and consolidate the knowledge students acquire from the assigned readings.

With respect to the competences that students should acquire:
Through the lectures and participatory sessions, students should be able to relate the different elements studied and provide solutions according to the ends or role of Criminal Law. From this perspective, they will be able to analyse the legal/criminal resolutions are coherent with the mission of this area of the Law.

ASSESSMENT

ASSESSMENT BREAKDOWN

Description	%
Assigments and exercises	20
Active class participation	20
Exams	60

Assessment criteria

Assignments and exercises:
- Become aware of the complexity of the course content and analyse it.
- Take into account a range of perspectives, sources, dimensions, etc., and know how to use them as a whole to analyse social reality.
- Understand that the solutions offered are the result of the function this area of the Law fulfills.

Active class participation: Participation in individual and team assignments. Questions in class regarding the material addressed.

Exams:
- Become aware of the complexity of the course content and analyse it.
- Take into account a range of perspectives, sources, dimensions, etc., and know how to use them as a whole to analyse social reality.
- Attending class is obligatory.

Students who do not:
1. Pass the course at the FIRST SITTING OF THE EXAM due to failure to attend class, not completing the set activities or copying them will not be able to re-sit the final exam and will therefore have to take the course again and complete the established activities.
2. Have level of required competences may be able to move on to the next year of the programme so long as they pass this course but they will not be able to complete the final degree project until they acquire the required competence levels for the programme.

Bibliography

QUINTERO OLIVARES, G., Manual de Derecho Penal. Parte General. Aranzadi. Most recent edition.

MUÑOZ CONDE, F.; GARCÍA ARÁN, M. Derecho Penal. Parte General, Valencia. Most recent edition.

MIR PUIG, S., Derecho Penal Parte General. Barcelona. Most recent edition.

Timetable and sections

Group	Teacher	Department
	Marc García Solé	Derecho

Timetable

From 2014/9/16 to 2014/12/18:
Tuesday and Thursday from 12:15 to 13:45.

Tuesday 2015/1/13 from 10:00 to 13:00.

Fundamentos del Derecho Penal y Teoría del Delito I (GED70045)