Autonomy and Criminal Law

Autonomy is a multifaceted concept, crucial in theory of law in general and one of the oldest concepts in criminal law. Autonomy has many dimensions and may refer to both the individual agency and to state sovereignty and non-interference. Kant famously posited that individuals were capable of self-governance and self-reflection as rational decision-makers. Today we are confronted with not only the question as to who the decision maker (inter alia growing use of AI) is but also questions of constantly shifting and blurred competence allocation between EU and Member States in the area of criminal law justice as well as in international criminal law with regard to the relationship between the individual and the state vis-à-vis the international community. On an individual level autonomy may relate to various aspects and subjects in criminal (and criminal procedural) law: the agency in relation to criminal responsibility, the ability to interact with others (f.ex. voluntarily participate in sexual relations) and in relation to the decision-making subject, i.e., the judge. The idea of the autonomy of the individual affects the question of when, what and how to legislate upon various matters as well as the interpretation and application of the laws. While these questions have been debated before they seem still in need of further clarifications and discussion as to what the notion of autonomy mean and could mean. The idea of the workshop is to have one session on theoretical implications of autonomy and ask why it is that autonomy is so important in criminal law. The second part discusses autonomy in practice). The third part moves beyond the state and looks at the concept of autonomy in EU criminal law and transnational law more broadly.