Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Penal Law 1
Other languages of instruction: Catalan
Teaching staff
Introduction
Criminal law is, without a doubt, the branch of the legal system that has the greatest impact, in daily practice, on the fundamental rights of the individual. The State’s punitive power is based on the need to protect social coexistence and the most basic rights of the person against the most serious attacks on individual and collective legal interests of greatest significance.
Essentially, throughout this course, we study the concept of criminal law and the legal principles that inspire the State’s punitive intervention, introducing us to the foundations of human conduct that is criminally relevant — that is, the conditions an act must meet to constitute a crime (unlawfulness); and criminally punishable — that is, the requirements for such conduct to be attributable to the person responsible (culpability) so that a legal consequence of a criminal nature (punishability) can be applied.
Finally, we study the first dogmatic categories that structure the legal theory of crime, without prejudice to the fact that in Criminal Law 2 the examination of all the remaining categories will be completed.
Objectives
This course covers the first half of the General Part of Criminal Law. It should enable the student, together with the content studied in Criminal Law 2, to address all the issues that, in general and for all types of offences, arise in the attribution of criminal responsibility. At the same time, it serves as an introduction to specific offences, since, to a large extent, the study of particular crimes is merely a concrete application of the problems and interpretative guidelines established in the General Part.
Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme
- 02 - To acquire the ability to understand, analyse and synthesise
- 03 - To be able to express one's ideas and arguments in an orderly and coherent way both in oral and written form (written and oral techniques)
- 04 - To turn in documents that have been formally and thoroughly prepared to high standards
- 05 - To be able to develop skills for group work
- 11 - To acquire skills for autonomous learning
- 12 - To be able to organise and plan
- 14 - To be aware of the importance of the Law as a regulatory system for social relationships
- 16 - To be able to use constitutional principles and values as work tools when interpreting the legal system
- 17 - To understand and have knowledge of public and private institutional principles in their origin and as a whole
- 18 - To understand the different ways of creating Law within its historical evolution as well as its current state
- 20 - To have knowledge of the basic aspects of legal argumentation
- 23 - To identify the state, doctrinal and legal framework of a complex legal issue
- 24 - To acquire the skills to resolve problems and make decisions using relevant information and by applying correct methods while placing the issue within a legal system context
- 29 - To be able to gather and interpret economic documentation
- 30 - To master computer techniques for obtaining legal information (legal databases, jurisprudence, and bibliography)
Syllabus
Tema 1 Concepto y finalidades del Derecho penal
1.1
1.1 Introducción. Origen histórico. Primeras características del Derecho Penal y el Derecho Penal como medio de control social.
1.2 Concepto de Derecho penal. Sentido objetivo y subjetivo.
1.3 El Derecho penal y su relación con otras ciencias y disciplinas
1.4
1.1 Elementos de la definición del Derecho penal. Las consecuencias jurídicas del delito, las penas y medidas de seguridad como componentes del derecho penal.
1.5 Finalidades de la pena. Teoría retributiva y teorías preventivas en la fundamentación del ius puniendi
Tema 2 Principios y garantías del ius puniendi
2.1 Principios y garantías del ius puniendi
2.2 El principio de legalidad como exigencia de un Estado de Derecho y del derecho a la libertad
2.3 Principios derivados de un Estado social. Principio de utilidad de la intervención penal. El Derecho penal como ultima ratio: principios de subsidiariedad, intervención mínima y fragmentariedad. Derecho Administrativo sancionador y principio de non bis in idem. Principio de exclusiva protección de bienes jurídicos.
2.4 Principios derivados de un Estado democrático. Principio de culpabilidad. Principio de proporcionalidad. Principio de humanidad de las penas. Principio de resocialización.
Tema 3 Funciones del Derecho Penal. Las sanciones penales y otras consecuencias jurídicas del delito previstas en el Código Penal español: penas, medidas de seguridad y otras consecuencias
3.1 Las funciones del Derecho Penal. El sistema dualista de penas y medidas.
3.2 La privación de libertad y el régimen de suspensión de la pena. La pena de multa.
3.3 La Ley orgánica general penitenciaria, el reglamento penitenciario y el régimen de cancelación de los antecedentes penales.
3.4 La ejecución de las medidas de seguridad.
3.5 La responsabilidad civil derivada de delito.
3.6 Las costas procesales.
3.7 El comiso y las consecuencias accesorias aplicables a las personas jurídicas.
3.8 Las causas de extinción de la responsabilidad criminal.
Tema 4 Las circunstancias modificativas de la responsabilidad criminal
4.1 Introducción y consideraciones generales.
4.2 Reglas generales de aplicación de las circunstancias modificativas: inherencia, incompatibilidad y comunicabilidad de las circunstancias.
4.3 Efectos penológicos de las circunstancias modificativas.
4.4 Circunstancias atenuantes: eximentes incompletas y atenuantes ordinarias.
4.5 Circunstancias agravantes: objetivas y subjetivas.
4.6 Circunstancia mixta de parentesco
Tema 5 Las reglas generales para la determinación de la pena
5.1 Introducción y consideraciones generales.
5.2 El sistema vigente de individualización judicial de la pena.
Tema 6 La responsabilidad penal del menor y el sistema de Justicia Juvenil
6.1 El sistema previsto en la Ley Orgánica 5/2000 reguladora de la responsabilidad penal de los menores. Algunas particularidades procesales.
6.2 La remisión al Código penal a efectos de determinación de las conductas punibles.
6.3 El abanico de medidas sancionadoras-educativas aplicables.
6.4 La gran flexibilidad y amplio arbitrio judicial en la determinación de la medida aplicable.
6.5 Un principio regulador fundamental: el interés del menor.
Tema 7 Las normas jurídico-penales, la teoría (jurídica) del delito y las funciones de sus categorías sistemáticas
7.1 Las normas jurídico-penales. La distinción entre normas primarias y normas secundarias como imperativos de conducta.
7.2 Normas de mandato y normas de prohibición en el marco de la finalidad del ius puniendi.
7.3 La teoría del delito. Significado y función. Los distintos niveles sistemáticos del concepto de delito.
7.4 La tipicidad. El concepto de tipo penal y sus distintas modalidades. Vertiente objetiva y vertiente subjetiva de la tipicidad.
7.5 La antijuricidad en sentido estricto: la ausencia de causas de justificación.
7.6 La culpabilidad; significado y elementos.
7.7 La punibilidad.
Tema 8 La conducta humana como requisito del delito
8.1 Acción y conducta típica.
8.2 El comportamiento humano como elemento del delito (conducta humana externa y final). Actos humanos y actos del hombre.
8.3 Causas de ausencia de acción. Fuerza irresistible, actos reflejos e inconsciencia.
8.4 La doctrina de la actio libera in causa.
8.5 Evolución histórica de la responsabilidad penal de las personas jurídicas. Especial referencia al artículo 31 bis del Código Penal.
Evaluation systems and criteria
In person
The assessment in the first exam session will consist of:
A) Attendance and class follow-up:
Attendance is mandatory. To evaluate the proper use of the classes, without prior notice, short random tests will be carried out, which we will call “Follow-up Tests.” These tests will consist of short, simple questions that must be answered within a very limited time. They will not require prior in-depth study, but simply paying attention in class and taking notes. If the student has not attended class, it is advisable to prepare the topic using the manual in order to pass the follow-up tests. Students with more than 5 absences (attendance will be checked at the beginning of class), or with an average score lower than 3 in the follow-up tests, will receive a 20% penalty in Section B, regardless of the results obtained.
B) 50% Midterm exams.
There will be 3 midterm exams.
A first midterm, covering topics 1 to 4, with one part on Positive Law and one multiple-choice part. The first midterm is worth 20% of the final grade.
A second midterm, covering topic 5, worth 10% of the final grade.
A third midterm, covering topics 6 to 8 [excluding topic 5], with one part on Positive Law and one multiple-choice part. The third midterm is worth 20% of the final grade.
C) 50% Final exam.
The final exam consists of 2 parts.
A short multiple-choice test, which must be passed in order to access the final exam. The questions will be simple and related to the subject syllabus. The grade obtained will not matter, since it is only necessary to pass it to gain access to the oral final exam.
Example: What is understood by Ius puniendi from a criminal law perspective?
a) The natural right of any person to defend themselves from an attack.
b) The function performed by Criminal Law.
c) The natural right of any person to defend themselves from an attack, within the framework established by the Law.
d) The exclusive power of the State to prosecute and punish crimes.
If the multiple-choice test is passed (results will be given immediately), the student will be called to the second part, which is the final exam. It will be oral and public and will determine the grade for this last block. This exam will consist of a 10-minute presentation on one topic from the syllabus. The student will have 5 minutes to prepare a written outline and must in any case exceed 10 minutes of presentation —otherwise, it will be graded as zero—.
Second exam session:
Section A will not count towards the assessment, and from Section B, only the second midterm will count 20% toward the final grade. The remaining 80% of the grade in the second session will come from the final exam, after passing the qualifying multiple-choice test.
IMPORTANT WARNINGS:
It is the student’s responsibility to always attend class with a device that allows them to take the follow-up tests and multiple-choice exams (preferably a laptop).
Only students present in class may take the test.
Attendance will be checked at the beginning of class. Lack of punctuality will be counted as an absence.
The 5 absences described in Section A include cases of illness, force majeure, etc.
Cheating or any attempt at fraud in any of the course’s tests or exams will result in the annulment of the test and an immediate fail with a grade of 0 in the course. The same sanction will be applied to anyone who collaborates in fraud or allows copying.
If the use of illicit means of copying or fraud is detected, the case will be reported to the Faculty’s Board and may lead to the opening of disciplinary proceedings.
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SISTEMA DE EVALUACIÓN |
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Asistencia y participación en clase |