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  • © 2017

Criminal Liability of Political Decision-Makers

A Comparative Perspective

  • First comprehensive analysis of the criminal liability of political decision makers in a democratic state
  • Adds a comparative law perspective to the (so far) purely national discussion about criminal liability of politicians
  • Includes a comparative study based on a practical case

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Table of contents (25 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi

About this book

This book is dedicated to a fundamental conflict in modern states: those persons holding public office are no more than ordinary citizens. Therefore, their activities must – as a matter of principle – be subject to full judicial control. But at the same time, democratically legitimated politicians need some discretion in their decision-making.


Allegations of politicians committing criminal offences in office quickly attract a great deal of media attention. Even politicians themselves frequently use such allegations to discredit their political opponents. However, to date this topic has not been fully addressed on an academic level. This book is a first step in this direction.


The individual contributions cover topics such as:
  • “bad” political decisions that result in a waste of taxpayers’ money
  • corruption and conflicts of interest in political decision-making
  • immunities and procedural obstacles to the effective prosecution of politicians
  • abuse of criminal law and criminal proceedings in the political arena
  • criminal liability for decisions taken in situations of state emergency 
  • the role of criminal law in public opinion.

Leading experts examine these and other issues from a comparative perspective.



Editors and Affiliations

  • Faculty of Law, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany

    Frank Zimmermann

About the editor

Frank Zimmermann is a post-doctoral research fellow at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. His main fields of research are the relationship between criminal law and politics, German and European criminal law (particularly conflicts of criminal jurisdiction) as well as international cooperation in criminal matters.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access