Hougaku Kyoushitsu Library Keihōkakuron no Nayamidokoro (Key Points of Criminal Law: Specific Offences)

This book, “Key Points of Criminal Law: Specific Offences,” is based on a series of articles of the same title that ran in the magazine Hougaku Kyoushitsu [The Jurisprudence Classroom]. To this original material, I have added subsequent developments in judicial precedent and legal theory, in addition to several new themes. This book, in connection with its sister book, “Key Points of Criminal Law: General Part,” introduces current debates and presents my conclusions to some of the problems of specific offences of criminal law that students may find difficult to understand. In that sense, this book is intended to be read by those who have already studied the criminal law in undergraduate or law school and who desire further in-depth study. However, to make the book understandable to students studying criminal law for the first time, I have tried to explain it as plainly as possible without omitting basic content. In addition, I have added my own analysis of the latest practices and theories, assuming that the readers are legal practitioners and researchers.
 
The book has 23 chapters, 15 of which deal with the subject of property crimes. The discussion on property crimes is the most complex and vital from a practical point of view and requires extensive reading to understand.
 
This book explains in plain language the kind of issues that arise in discussions of criminal law, why and how they arise, from what perspective conflicts of opinion arise, and the process by which I arrived at my own conclusions. I would be delighted if readers support my conclusions, but would also appreciate it if they would critically examine those conclusions based on my thought process. Whether the reader agrees or disagrees with the positions presented in this book, I would be immensely pleased if they could think about the issues I have presented in this book and find discussions of criminal law interesting.
 

(Written by HASHIZUME Takashi, Professor, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics / 2023)