Publication details
A Couple of Notes on the Nazi Criminal Law
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2010 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Journal of Criminal Law and Public Prosecution |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Law sciences |
| Keywords | nazi criminal law Third Reich |
| Description | The fundamental postulate of the Nazi criminal law was protection of national society. Whereas other systems of law based their legal principles on individuals in order to achieve law of a society, the Nazi law and legal systems influenced by it, inferred individuals rights from law of society (national community) and demanded that the then actual legal thought be reshaped. One of the core tasks of a state as a form of community was to establish circumstances of development of national community. One of these circumstances was protection provided by criminal law. The core value protected by criminal law of National Socialism was this so-called national community. Even in economy, community benefit was put ahead of benefits of individuals. It was on purpose that the laws of Nazis used ambiguous legal terms that could have been interpreted widely and thus could have been misused, e.g. such terms as healthy national feeling of good of nation. The principle of analogy (analogie legis) in criminal law degraded law and punishment were not proportional even for bagatelle offences, such an offender could have been sentenced to death. |