Paper's abstract

Jacques-Henri Robert, Depenalisation
The history of criminal law since 1791 indicates that the areas it has impressed never get completely rid of it, although the legislator thought he was introducing a decriminalisation in these matters. However, under this general observation, one can distinguish two very distinct phenomenon. a. When some offences are abolished to the benefit of the institution of new liberties, in the sphere of social habits of labour relations for example, one part of the society may reject these improvements. One then witnesses, sooner or later, the reappearance of criminal law, but aimed towards the persons against the increase in liberties. For example, after the decriminalisation of adultery and homosexuality, laws were enacted which punished people guilty of discriminations based on the marital status or on sexual habits. b. Decriminalisation also appears when the legislator is disheartened by a mass delinquency (bad cheques) or when he wants to set up a discipline too sharp to be expressed through the strict categories of criminal qualifications (fair trading, financial markets). In that case, the criminal repression steps back to the benefit of administrative penalties, but sometimes it does so at the expense of the defence rights or of the predictability of the norm.

Key Words : crime, liberty
t. 41, 1997 : p. 191-198

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