Is formal criminalisation really on the rise?: Evidence from the 1950s

It is widely assumed that the number of criminal offences created by legislation has increased in recent years. The evidence for this claim, however, is inconclusive at most. In this paper, we present the results from an analysis of criminal offence creation in a one-year period in the 1950s, and co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Criminal law review 2015-03 (3), p.177-191
Main Authors: Chalmers, James, Leverick, Fiona, Shaw, Alasdair
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Criminal law
Criminal procedure
History
International criminal law
Legislation
Sentences (Criminal procedure)
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Summary:It is widely assumed that the number of criminal offences created by legislation has increased in recent years. The evidence for this claim, however, is inconclusive at most. In this paper, we present the results from an analysis of criminal offence creation in a one-year period in the 1950s, and compare it to data from 1997-98 and 2010-11.We show that the number of offences created in our 1950s sample was comparable to that in the other two, and indeed higher than in 2010-11. We also present data as to "drivers" of criminalisation (whether the offence implemented an international obligation), the subject-matter of the offences created, the maximum penalties available for the offences, and the question of who the offences were addressed to (whether to the public at large or to persons acting in some form of special capacity).
ISSN:0011-135X