Appraising Strict Liability

This book is a collection of original essays offering the first full-length consideration of the problem of strict liability in the criminal law: that is, the problem of criminal offences that allow a defendant to be convicted without proof of fault. Because of its potential to convict blameless persons, strict liability is a highly controversial phenomenon in the criminal law. Including Anglo-American and European perspectives, the contributions provide a sustained and wide-ranging examination of the fundamental issues. The breadth and depth of the chapters combine to present readers with a sophisticated analysis of the place and legitimacy of strict liability in the criminal law.

This book is a collection of original essays offering the first full-length consideration of the problem of strict liability in the criminal law: that is, the problem of criminal offences that allow a defendant to be convicted without proof of fault. Because of its potential to convict blameless persons, strict liability is a highly controversial phenomenon in the criminal law. Including Anglo-American and European perspectives, the contributions provide a sustained and wide-ranging examination of the fundamental issues. The breadth and depth of the chapters combine to present readers with a sophisticated analysis of the place and legitimacy of strict liability in the criminal law.

Andrew P. Simester is Professor of Legal Philosophy at the University of Nottingham and Senior Fellow of the Centre for Penal Theory and Penal Ethics, University of Cambridge. His main interests lie in the fields of jurisprudence, criminal law, and private law theory, and he has published in these areas in every major common law jurisdiction. He is the author of two leading criminal law textbooks, in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, and has edited a number of collections of essays.