The Judiciarys Law Journal

The Judiciarys Law Journal

Differential penalization in Criminal Policy

Document Type : Research/Original/Regular Article

Author
.Associate Professor Islamic Azad University of Qom
10.22106/jlj.2026.2082619.6468
Abstract
The reactive response pattern of criminal policy custodians is the manifestation of the goals of penalization; accordingly, determining punishment and its implementation in the field of criminal policy, through the development of sentencing guidelines and ultimately sentencing based on criminological , penological, human rights teachings, has been the focus of attention of criminal policy makers. Today's criminal policy is simultaneously influenced by democracy and authoritarianism. Accordingly, differential penalization refers to the ability to correlate and crystallize positive and negative approaches to punishment by benefiting from the integration of a freedom-oriented or security-oriented strategy in criminal policy, that is, a continuum of civil society participation with executive branch institutions and law enforcement networks that emerges from the combination of freedom-oriented with realistic authoritarianism to ensure social security. Therefore, depending on the case, a fluctuation of the contraction and expansion of the ideas of freedom, equality and power and the combination of different variables in punishment is formed. Studies show that differential penalization in criminal policy, influenced by democracy, considers social capital as an extension of collective action and, by taking advantage of the dominance of the minimalist perspective and fair rehabilitation of criminals, on the one hand, and the retributive approach of the authoritarian model by legitimizing repression, deprivation of social rights and disabling the offender on the other, organizes the legal system of criminal policy in differential penalization.
Keywords
Subjects


Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 14 July 2026

  • Receive Date 04 January 2026
  • Revise Date 21 February 2026
  • Accept Date 14 July 2026
  • First Publish Date 14 July 2026
  • Publish Date 14 July 2026