Lacey, N. & Ruiz Perez, V. (2026). Rethinking the ‘principles of criminal law’ in a time of upheaval. Criminal Law and Philosophy, [In Press]

We live in a time of upheaval with profound implications for criminal law as a pre-eminent expression of state authority. As the rules-based international order frays and rule-of-law principles erode within self-professed liberal democracies, the constraints that liberalism aspires to place on state criminalising power are under sustained threat, posing a particular challenge for those critical of liberal criminal law theory. Where should such critiques stand in the face of growing illiberalism, and have they themselves contributed to it? Situating these questions within a political economy framework and a longer historical trajectory, this paper explores case studies that illustrate the impact of social and political upheavals on the authority and operation of criminal law during the 21st century: the preventive turn in criminal law, the ‘war on terror’, the ‘war on drugs’, ‘crimmigration’, and human rights penality. We conclude by reflecting on future directions for criminal law theory, and in particular the relationship between its normative and positive strands.