Prof Alexander Sarch of the University of Surrey presents a seminar arguing that the culpable wrongness constraint, a central principle in legal moralism, still matters in real criminalisation decisions. Sarch questions whether the constraint is too weak to deserve attention from busy legislators, and then defends its practical weight against three challenges: why it matters even though it is only defeasible, why it remains a demanding constraint whose breach brings serious objections, and why attempts to square it with mala prohibita offences do not make it trivially satisfied.
The talk is drawn from a chapter in a larger book project, Making a Morally Better Criminal Law. Prof George Letsas, Professor of Philosophy of Law at UCL Laws, chairs the session. Sarch's research focuses on culpable mental states (mens rea) and the limits of criminal liability; he previously served as Head of School at Surrey Law School and clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
