Law I / The Other Limits on the Power to Punish
Practice question · Put in order

Arrange the questions a legislator committed to these limits should ask, in order, before creating a new offence.

Hints
  1. Nothing can be shown harmful before the interest is identified.
  2. Choosing the instrument comes before setting the amount.
Show the answer
  1. Is there an identifiable legal good worth protecting?
  2. Is the conduct genuinely harmful to that good?
  3. Would a civil or administrative response protect it adequately?
  4. Is the proposed penalty range proportionate to the seriousness of the attack?
Why

The order is the argument in miniature, and each step can stop the process. No legal good, and there is nothing to protect; no harm, and there is nothing to prevent; an adequate lesser instrument, and criminal law is not the last resort; a disproportionate range, and the offence is objectionable even though everything before it was satisfied.

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