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{{expand French|topic=gov|Principe de légalité en droit pénal français|date=November 2022}}
{{expand French|topic=gov|Principe de légalité en droit pénal français|date=November 2022}}


The '''principle of legality in French criminal law''' holds that no one may be convicted of a criminal offense unless a previously published legal text sets out in clear and precise wording out the constituent elements of the offense and the penalty which applies to it.<ref name="Dalloz-Art.111-3" />
The '''principle of legality in French criminal law''' holds that no one may be convicted of a criminal offense unless a previously published legal text sets out in clear and precise wording out the constituent elements of the offense and the penalty which applies to it.<ref name="Dalloz-Art.111-3" />{{sfn Legifrance|CP|111-3}}
(Latin:{{lang|la|Nullum crimen, nulla pœna sine lege}}, in other words, "no crime, no penalty, without a law").<ref>[https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3303525 The Principle of Legality], RAIS Conference Proceedings – The 11th International RAIS Conference on Social Sciences, 20 December 2018,
(Latin:{{lang|la|Nullum crimen, nulla pœna sine lege}}, in other words, "no crime, no penalty, without a law").<ref>[https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3303525 The Principle of Legality], RAIS Conference Proceedings – The 11th International RAIS Conference on Social Sciences, 20 December 2018,
Daniel Grădinaru, Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University</ref>
Daniel Grădinaru, Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University</ref>


The principle of legality<ref name="Dalloz-Art.111-3" />{{efn|name="principe de légalité"}} ({{lang-fr|link=no|principe de légalité}}) is one of the most fundamental principles of [[French criminal law]], and goes back to the [[French Penal Code of 1791|Penal Code of 1791]] adopted during the [[French Revolution]],{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} and before that, was developed by Italian criminologist [[Cesare Beccaria]] and by [[Montesquieu]].<ref>[https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/hplp37&div=3&id=&page= The Italian Enlightenment and the American Revolution: Cesare Beccaria's Forgotten Influence on American Law], John Bessler, 37 Hamline J. Pub. L. & Pol'y 1 (2017)</ref> The principle has its origins in the 1789 [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]], which endows it with constitutional force and limits the conditions in which citizens may be punished for infractions.
The principle of legality<ref name="Dalloz-Art.111-3" />{{sfn Legifrance|CP|111-3}}{{efn|name="principe de légalité"}} ({{lang-fr|link=no|principe de légalité}}) is one of the most fundamental principles of [[French criminal law]], and goes back to the [[French Penal Code of 1791|Penal Code of 1791]] adopted during the [[French Revolution]],{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} and before that, was developed by Italian criminologist [[Cesare Beccaria]] and by [[Montesquieu]].<ref>[https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/hplp37&div=3&id=&page= The Italian Enlightenment and the American Revolution: Cesare Beccaria's Forgotten Influence on American Law], John Bessler, 37 Hamline J. Pub. L. & Pol'y 1 (2017)</ref> The principle has its origins in the 1789 [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]], which endows it with constitutional force and limits the conditions in which citizens may be punished for infractions.


== History ==
== History ==
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The [[Constitutional Council (France)|Constitutional Council]] stated that it follows from these provisions that the legislator is obliged to define the offences in terms sufficiently clear and precise to exclude arbitrariness.<ref>Decision No. 80-127 DC of 19 and 20 January 1981, {{ill|Law of Security and Freedom|fr|Loi sécurité et liberté|lt=Law of Security and Freedom.|v=sup}}</ref>
The [[Constitutional Council (France)|Constitutional Council]] stated that it follows from these provisions that the legislator is obliged to define the offences in terms sufficiently clear and precise to exclude arbitrariness.<ref>Decision No. 80-127 DC of 19 and 20 January 1981, {{ill|Law of Security and Freedom|fr|Loi sécurité et liberté|lt=Law of Security and Freedom.|v=sup}}</ref>


The legislative application of the principle is found in Article 111-3 of the [[Code pénal (France)|Penal Code]] which states:<ref name="Dalloz-Art.111-3" />
The legislative application of the principle is found in Article 111-3 of the [[Code pénal (France)|Penal Code]] which states:<ref name="Dalloz-Art.111-3" />{{sfn Legifrance|CP|111-3}}
{{Blockquote|No person may be punished for a felony or misdemeanor whose elements are not defined by law, or for a contravention whose elements are not defined by regulation.{{efn|"{{lang|fr|Nul ne peut être puni pour un crime ou pour un délit dont les éléments ne sont pas définis par la loi, ou pour une contravention dont les éléments ne sont pas définis par le règlement.}}"}}}}
{{Blockquote|No person may be punished for a felony or misdemeanor whose elements are not defined by law, or for a contravention whose elements are not defined by regulation.{{efn|"{{lang|fr|Nul ne peut être puni pour un crime ou pour un délit dont les éléments ne sont pas définis par la loi, ou pour une contravention dont les éléments ne sont pas définis par le règlement.}}"}}}}
{{Blockquote|No person may be punished by a penalty which is not provided for by law, if the offense is a felony or a misdemeanour, or by regulation, if the offence is a contravention.{{efn|"{{lang|fr|Nul ne peut être puni d'une peine qui n'est pas prévue par la loi, si l'infraction est un crime ou un délit, ou par le règlement, si l'infraction est une contravention.}}"}}}}
{{Blockquote|No person may be punished by a penalty which is not provided for by law, if the offense is a felony or a misdemeanour, or by regulation, if the offence is a contravention.{{efn|"{{lang|fr|Nul ne peut être puni d'une peine qui n'est pas prévue par la loi, si l'infraction est un crime ou un délit, ou par le règlement, si l'infraction est une contravention.}}"}}}}

Revision as of 22:21, 13 January 2023

The principle of legality in French criminal law holds that no one may be convicted of a criminal offense unless a previously published legal text sets out in clear and precise wording out the constituent elements of the offense and the penalty which applies to it.[1][2] (Latin:Nullum crimen, nulla pœna sine lege, in other words, "no crime, no penalty, without a law").[3]

The principle of legality[1][2][a] (French: principe de légalité) is one of the most fundamental principles of French criminal law, and goes back to the Penal Code of 1791 adopted during the French Revolution,[citation needed] and before that, was developed by Italian criminologist Cesare Beccaria and by Montesquieu.[4] The principle has its origins in the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which endows it with constitutional force and limits the conditions in which citizens may be punished for infractions.

History

French Wikisource has original text related to this article:

The principle of legality of punishment and crime was identified and conceptualized in the Enlightenment. It is generally attributed to Cesare Beccaria but Montesquieu indicated that "the judges of the Nation are only the mouth that pronounces the words of the law"[b] as early as 1748, in The Spirit of the Law (French: L'Esprit des lois).

French Wikisource has original text related to this article:

It appears in particular in article 8 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789, and is thus invested with constitutional force, as confirmed several times by the Constitutional Council, such as on 20 January 1981 concerning the Law of Security and Freedom. [fr]

The principle of legality was initially understood as a guarantee against the arbitrariness of judicial power: "God forbid that the Parliaments should be fair".[c][5] (it being understood that at the time, that parliaments were jurisdictional bodies). This principle was affirmed during the French Revolution.

The principle of legality gives the power to define the components of offenses and to establish their penalties to the parliament. This attribution corresponds to the faith placed in the power of the parliament by the revolutionaries, since the parliament, expressing the will of the people, can do no wrong. It is the Parliament to which the safeguarding of liberties must be entrusted. This vision differs markedly from the Anglo-Saxon approach, and more particularly the North American one, in which the judge is perceived as the protector of citizens against state power and its tyrannical excesses.

Constitutional force

The concept of punishment for offenses has its origins in France in the Declaration of the Rights of Man, article 8. The Declaration is recognized in the Preamble to the French Constitution, and is invested with constitutional power, due to the 1971 Liberty of Association decision of the Constitutional Council,[citation needed] which said:

No one may be punished except by virtue of a law established and promulgated prior to the offence and legally applied.[d]

The Constitutional Council stated that it follows from these provisions that the legislator is obliged to define the offences in terms sufficiently clear and precise to exclude arbitrariness.[6]

The legislative application of the principle is found in Article 111-3 of the Penal Code which states:[1][2]

No person may be punished for a felony or misdemeanor whose elements are not defined by law, or for a contravention whose elements are not defined by regulation.[e]

No person may be punished by a penalty which is not provided for by law, if the offense is a felony or a misdemeanour, or by regulation, if the offence is a contravention.[f]

Division of authority

The legal framework established by the Revolution put the parlement in charge of all three types of offenses, but this later changed.[citation needed] Now the parliament retains control of the two most serious types of offense, crimes and délits, but contraventions have become a regulatory matter handled by the executive, as discussed in the first chapter of the code, article 111-2.[7]

Application in time and space

The principle of criminal liability is defined in the constitution,[citation needed] and a fundamental corollary of it is its application in time (application de la loi pénale dans le temps). This principle means that criminal sanctions are not retroactive, per article 112-1 of the French penal code.[8][9] This article also discusses the disposition of cases where acts were committed around the time a new law was taking effect.

See also

References

Notes
  1. ^ The principle of legality (principe de légalité) states that no one may be convicted and sentenced without a clear and precise law; that is, "no crime, no punishment, without a law". Portions go back to ancient times, and it was eventually reconceptualized during the Enlightenment, first by Cesare Beccaria, and then by Montesquieu in 1748. As a legal precept in France, it is known as the "principle of legality in French criminal law" (Principe de légalité en droit pénal français).
  2. ^ "Les juges de la Nation ne sont que la bouche qui prononce les paroles de la loi.; in The Spirit of Law, book XI, ch. VI, On the English Constitution).
  3. ^ "Dieu nous protège de l'équité des parlements."
  4. ^ Nul ne peut être puni qu'en vertu d'une loi établie et promulguée antérieurement au délit, et légalement appliquée.
  5. ^ "Nul ne peut être puni pour un crime ou pour un délit dont les éléments ne sont pas définis par la loi, ou pour une contravention dont les éléments ne sont pas définis par le règlement."
  6. ^ "Nul ne peut être puni d'une peine qui n'est pas prévue par la loi, si l'infraction est un crime ou un délit, ou par le règlement, si l'infraction est une contravention."
Citations
  1. ^ a b c "Code pénal – Art. 111-3" (in French). Paris: Editions Dalloz. Archived from the original on 22 November 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2021. Art. 111-3 Nul ne peut être puni pour un crime ou pour un délit dont les éléments ne sont pas définis par la loi, ou pour une contravention dont les éléments ne sont pas définis par le règlement. Nul ne peut être puni d'une peine qui n'est pas prévue par la loi, si l'infraction est un crime ou un délit, ou par le règlement, si l'infraction est une contravention. [Art. 111-3 No one may be punished for a crime or a délit whose elements are not defined by law, or for a contravention whose elements are not defined by regulation. No one may be punished by a penalty that is not provided for by law, if the offense is a crime or a délit, or by the regulations, if the offense is a contravention.]
  2. ^ a b c Legifrance, Penal code, 111-3.
  3. ^ The Principle of Legality, RAIS Conference Proceedings – The 11th International RAIS Conference on Social Sciences, 20 December 2018, Daniel Grădinaru, Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University
  4. ^ The Italian Enlightenment and the American Revolution: Cesare Beccaria's Forgotten Influence on American Law, John Bessler, 37 Hamline J. Pub. L. & Pol'y 1 (2017)
  5. ^ Cited by André Tunc, in "The Grand Outlines of the Code", in Bernard Schwartz (dir.), "The Code Napoleon and the Common Law World", New York University Press, New York, 1956, p. 19.
  6. ^ Decision No. 80-127 DC of 19 and 20 January 1981, Law of Security and Freedom. [fr]
  7. ^ Legifrance, Penal code, 111-2.
  8. ^ Article 112-1, Dalloz
  9. ^ Legifrance, Penal code, 112-1.

Works cited

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