Foundations of Defining an Act as a Crime in the Modern Penal Law

Defining an act as a crime is a well-studied measure stemmed from collective reason, and needs some principles and rules.Generally speaking, in this regard four principles may be mentioned:the principle of loss (principle of benefit), paternalism, legal moralism,and legal perfectonism. Employment of these principles depends upon government's political and cultural ideas, and each one of them springs out from a proper political and cultural idea. Thus, to know each one of them, its grounds should be known. Politcal ideas governing the contemporary world may be classified under two titles: liberalism (individualism) and collectivism. In defining an act as a crime, individualism tends to the principle of loss and somewhat to paternalism.In addition to the two, collectivism tends to moralism and perfectionism as well. The difference in creating and employing these four principles between individualism and collectivism has its roots in their anthropological interpretations.Thus, in the present study, anthropology has been regarded as a foundation to define an act as a crime; and each and every interpretation of man influences formation of political ideas and in particular the rules and principles for defining an act as a crime.