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Criminal Law I

Code: 102252
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Law FB 1

Contact lecturer

Name :
María José Cuenca Garcia
Email :
mariajose.cuenca@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Joan Baucells Llados
María José Cuenca Garcia
Fermín Morales Prats
Maria Jesus Guardiola Lago
Maria Jose Pifarre De Moner
Margarita Bonet Esteva

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

Teachers:

Group 1: Theory, Dra. María Jesús Guardiola

Seminar 11, Dra. María Jesús Guardiola

Seminar 12, Dra. María José Pifarré

Seminar 13, (to be determinated)

Group 2: Theory, Dra. María José Cuenca

Seminar 21, Dra. María José Cuenca

Seminar 22, (to be determinated)

Seminar 23, Dra. María José Pifarré

Group 3: Theory, Dra. Margarita Bonet

Seminar 31, Dra. Margarita Bonet

Seminar 32, Dra. María José Cuenca

Seminar 33, (to be determinated)

Group 51, Theory, Dr. Fermín Morales

Seminar 511, Dr. Fermín Morales

Seminar 512, (to be determinated)

Group 70, Theory, Dr. Joan Baucells

Seminar 701, Dr. Joan Baucells

Seminar 702, (to be determinated)

There are not prerequisites for this course.

Teaching will be given taking into account the perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals

Objectives

The objective of this course is to familiarize students with the specificity of Criminal Law as an instrument of conflict resolution. The course mainly aims to make students knowledgeable about concepts such as: criminal norms, constitutional basics of criminal law, sentencing and security measures. Moreover, it is intended for enabling students in using the concepts and terminology of criminal law in a proper way. In order to do this, the reading of legal texts and the working out of practical cases will be carried out.

Learning outcomes

  1. Efficiently managing information, being capable of assimilating a considerable volume of data in a limited amount of time.
  2. Managing bibliographic and documentary resources: databases, browsing, etc.
  3. Demonstrating a sensible and critical reasoning: analysis, synthesis, conclusions.
  4. Planning and organising: managing of time, resources, etc.
  5. Identifying and knowing the main principles of criminal law.
  6. Identifying, knowing and applying the legislation and criminal principles to a concrete case.
  7. Distinguishing the applicable legislation between the criminal code and special criminal laws.
  8. Solving interpretation and application problems of criminal laws.
  9. Distinguishing the basic knowledge of criminal law.
  10. Verbally explaining the resolution of problems related to criminal laws.
  11. Arguing the implementation of criminal laws in the resolution of criminal problems.
  12. Laying the foundation for the implementation of criminal laws in the resolution of criminal problems.
  13. Introducing in the classroom the defence or accusation of criminal cases.
  14. Using the main constitutional principles and values as a working tool in the interpretation of the legal system.
  15. Searching criminal sentences in databases.
  16. Present information in a way that is appropriate to the type of audience.

Contents

. Criminal Law: Criminal Law as an instrument of social control. Norms of criminal law: structure, elements and functions. Relationship between criminal law and administrative law penalties.

. Sciences of Criminal Law and other related disciplines: Criminology, Crime Policy, Dogmatic of Criminal Law, and so on. Relationship between substantive and procedural criminal law.

. Sources of criminal law and their interpretation: direct and indirect sources. Interpretation and subsumption. Conceptual tools for interpretation, especially analogy.

. Legitimacy of Criminal Law. Theories of punishment: absolute, relative and mixed theories. State of play in the Spanish criminal system.

. Constraints to the punitive power of the State. Principle of minimum intervention. Principle of exclusive protection of legal goods. Principle of equality. Principle of liability. Principle of humanity. Principle of legality.

. Principle of legality: foundations. Constitutional guarantees derived from the principle of legality. Principle of reservation to “ley orgánica”. Legal certainty. “Non bis in idem”. Legislative techniques in criminal law.

. Time in criminal law. Principle of non-retroactivity. Reforms of criminal law and transitional situations. 

. Space in criminal law. The principle of territoriality. Exceptions: extraterritoriality cases. Prosecution of crime within European Union. International criminal law and national criminal law in the international context .International Criminal Court Extradition. 

. Individuals in criminal law. Principles of equality, inviolability, immunity, privileged jurisdiction.

. Sanctioning in the Spanish criminal system. Principles and classification. Capital punishment. Civil liability as a result of a crime.

. Sentencing implementation. Basic principles of the Spanish prison system. Phasing in model in penitentiary regime and rehabilitation programs. Judicialcontrol on sentencing implementation.

. Alternative sentencing: conditional sentences, strangers, conditional release. Mediation

. Security measures in the Spanish criminal system. Regime, typology, implementation. The juvenile justice system in Spain (L.O. 5/2000).

Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Study and preparation of Works 90 3.6 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 15
Tutorials 1.5 0.06 4
Seminars 20 0.8 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11, 12
Assessment 5 0.2 3, 11, 16
Theorical classes 24 0.96 5, 6, 9, 14

In order to achieve the competences of the  course, students must perform two types of activities.

 

1. Directed activities, which will be done in the classroom, consisting of:

1.1. Lectures given by the professor, in which the theoretical contents of the course will be examined.

1.2. Seminars:  Following the lectures, seminars will be devoted to work on each of the topics of the course through activities consisting of discussing readings, analyzing court judgements, performing mock trials and giving presentations 

 

2.- Autonomus activities. As a complement to the directed activities, students will work individually and in a group, through: 

a. Group work on the judgements and readings provided to students. The results of some of the group work will be presented in the seminars.

b. Individual work. Students must write four esasays on different topis proposed at the beginning of the course.

 

3. Tutorials.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Final content test 50% 5 0.2 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 14
First activity. Basic concepts 20%-25% 2.5 0.1 5, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
Second activity. Theoretical questions or cases resolution 20%-25% 2 0.08 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14













Bibliography

MUÑOZ CONDE, Francisco - GARCIA ARAN, Mercedes. Derecho Penal. Parte General. Tirant lo Blanch, 2022.

QUINTERO OLIVARES, Gonzalo (con la colaboración de MORALES PRATS). Parte General del Derecho Penal. Aranzadi, 2015.

Software

The subject does not require any specific software.

For this subject, the restricted use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is allowed exclusively for very specific support tasks, such as bibliographic or information search and text or translation correction. The student must clearly identify which parts have been generated with this technology, specify the tools used, and include a critical reflection on how these have influenced the process and the final result of the activity. Lack of transparency in the use of AI in this evaluable activity will be considered a lack of academic integrity and may lead to partial or total penalties in the grade for the activity, or more severe sanctions in serious cases.

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TE) Theory 1 Spanish first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 2 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 3 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 11 Spanish first semester morning-mixed
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 12 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 13 Catalan/Spanish first semester morning-mixed
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 21 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 22 Catalan/Spanish first semester morning-mixed
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 23 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 31 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 32 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 33 Catalan/Spanish first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 51 Spanish first semester afternoon
(TE) Theory 70 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 511 Spanish first semester afternoon
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 512 Catalan/Spanish first semester afternoon
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 701 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(SEM30) Seminaris (30 estudiants per grup) 702 Catalan/Spanish first semester morning-mixed