The Criminal Law Theory Conference aims to bring together, in an annual forum, researchers working on the theory of criminal law, criminal procedure, punishment, and the philosophical questions that underlie these areas of inquiry. The Conference seeks to advance research in the field and to foster interaction and collaboration between the growing number of researchers working on these and related questions.
The inaugural Conference was to have been held on December 6-7 2020 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. For obvious reasons, that is not now possible. However, given the number of interesting abstracts that were submitted for the conference, and our desire to get discussions started this year, we have decided to hold the first part of the Conference online, with a series of monthly sessions between now and May 2021.
At each two-hour session, we will discuss two previously circulated short papers: each paper will be introduced by a commentator, but we will aim to allow as much time as is possible for discussion. We hope that these sessions will enable authors to get useful feedback on their papers, and all participants to enjoy the kinds of trans-national and interdisciplinary conversation that we aim to foster.
The sessions will be held on the following Thursdays, at 17:00-18:50 Coordinated Universal Time/ Greenwich Mean Time —
3 December
Amit Pundik, ‘The Wrongfulness of Prostitution’
Commentator: Cornelia Spörl
Andrei Poama, ‘Poverty, Provocation, and Punishment’
Commentator: Ester Herlin-Karnell
7 January
Hsin-Wen Lee, ‘Self-Defense Theories of Criminal Punishment’
Commentator: Valerij Zisman
Federico Picinali, ‘Convicting vs Acquitting: Aren’t We All Expected Value Maximisers
about this Choice?’
Commentator: Krzysztof Szczucki
4 February
Eric James Miller, ‘The Public Authority Model of the Police’
Commentator: David Sklansky
4 March
Hylke Jellema, ‘Inferring to the best explanation about eyewitness testimony’
Commentator: Michael Pardo
Kenneth Silver, ‘When Should the Master Answer? Respondeat Superior and the Criminal
Law’
Commentator: Matthew Dyson
8 April
Zach Hoskins, ‘Punishment's Burdens on the Innocent’
Commentator: Mark Dsouza
Gniewomir Wycichowski-Kuchta, ‘The Rationality of "Irrational Criminalisation”’
Commentator: Julia O’Rourke
6 May
Kat Hadjimatheou and Christopher Nathan, ‘Policing and its Absence: Legitimacy, Special
Obligations, and Omissions in Law Enforcement’
Commentator: Michal Krolikowski
Andrew Botterell, ‘Rethinking the Defence of Diminished Capacity’
Commentator: Gustaf Almkvist
There is no charge for participation in these sessions, but registration is required. To register, please go to:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/criminal-theory-conference-workshops-tickets-125623107095
Further details, and information on how to access the papers, will be sent in advance of each session to those who have registered; papers will be available at least a week before the session at which they are to be discussed.
The Conference CFP can be accessed here.
The Sacher Institute
The Barak Center
UPDATE: Given the current situation, we have extended the abstract submission deadline to June 1, 2020.
We hope all are well, and look forward to metting under calmer circumstances.
The Inaugural Criminal Theory Conference will be held Dec. 6-7, 2020 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The Conference seeks to bring together, in an annual forum, researchers working on theory of criminal law, criminal procedure, and criminal punishment, and the philosophical questions that underlie these areas of inquiry. The Conference seeks to advance research in the field and foster interaction and collaboration between the growing number of researchers working on these and related questions. This year’s invited speakers will be Tatjana Hörnle (Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) and Gideon Yaffe (Yale Law School).
The Conference will be a pre-read workshop, with ten to twelve short papers discussed over the course of two days. Each one-hour session will begin with comments from a commentator. The author will then offer a brief reply, before opening the general discussion.
We invite researchers working in the field to submit an abstract for consideration or/and to indicate their interest in acting as commentators. Registration will be open once the conference program has been set.
To submit an abstract for consideration please submit an anonymized abstract of not more than 500 words by June 1, 2020. Authors will be notified of acceptance by June 30, 2020. Authors whose submissions are selected will be invited to submit short papers (up to 6,000) words by Nov. 6, 2020.
To participate as a commentator please indicate your interest on the form. The Conference is open to anyone in interested in attending, space permitting.
In order to facilitate participation, there will be no registration fees, but participants will have to cover their own expenses for travel and lodging. Limited funds may be available to those who cannot secure funding through their own institutions.
The Sacher Institute
The Barak Center