Criminal Policy in Criminalization and Punishment

Abstract

Criminal policy, particularly in the areas of criminalization and punishment, is one of the most important tools a state uses to protect public order and safeguard the fundamental values ​​and interests of society. It represents the framework through which the legislator defines criminal acts and their corresponding penalties, thereby achieving both general and specific deterrence. This research examines the concept of criminal policy and its main pillars in the field of criminalization and punishment, clarifying the foundations upon which criminalization is based, including the necessity of protecting the social interest, the principle of legality in criminal law, and the proportionality between the crime and the punishment. The research also addresses the objectives of criminal policy, namely achieving justice, preventing crime, and        reforming and reintegrating offenders into society.

The research focuses on the evolution of the concept of criminal policy from a traditional framework limited to punishment to a modern concept that expands to include prevention, rehabilitation, and the adoption of alternatives to custodial sentences. It also addresses the contemporary challenges facing criminal policy, especially legislative inflation and the emergence of new types of crime, such as cybercrime, and the resulting need to update criminal legislation. The research concludes by emphasizing the need to strike a balance between the effectiveness of criminalization and punishment on the one hand, and guaranteeing individual rights and freedoms on the other, in order to achieve societal security and criminal justice simultaneously.