Criminal Law Dealing with Hate Crimes

This penal law comparison regarding hate crime uses the method of functional comparative law to deal with the history and society of the USA and Germany, the common law tradition, codified law, the legal good doctrine, the Harm Principle, the wrong of a criminal offense and the blameworthiness of an offender committing a bias-motivated crime.

This study aims at providing a contribution to the current issue of hate crime. It analyzes the possibilities which are served by the German and the US American law to penalize bias-motivated crimes, while considering the historical and social background of both societies. It is questioned which legal goods are harmed by the committal of hate crime and whether the German penal law is suitable to address the wrong of hate crime and whether it is capable of properly punishing this sort of crime in respect to the blameworthiness of the offender. By applying the functional method of law comparison, understandings regarding the handlings of hate crimes in the USA and in Germany are exploited and, as a result, possible solutions for weaknesses of the prevailing law are offered.

Autorentext

Christine Marie Shavers, born in the USA, studied law at Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich (Germany).

Inhalt
Contents: Hate Crime Bias-Motivated Offense Hateful Bias German Criminal Law US Penal Law Aggravated Statutes Sentencing Functional Comparative Law Penal Law Comparison USA-Germany History and Society USA German Legal System Harm Principle Legal Good Doctrine Wrong of an Offense Blameworthiness.