POLITICAL CRIME IN INTERNATIONAL LAW: BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE

Abstract

 The concept of political crime is always variable and relative. The term “political crime” is difficult to grasp because it is often subject to various considerations and conflicting influences that frequently have no relation to a purely scientific or legal perspective. As previously mentioned, there is no stable, internationally agreed-upon definition of political crime due to two main reasons. 

First: The fluctuating ideas surrounding political crime range from leniency and compassion to strictness when dealing with political offenders. This leads to differences in the criteria used to distinguish political crime from ordinary crime. 

Second, the term “political” is inherently unstable and constantly evolves and changes with circumstances, shaping the character of the crime. Therefore, it cannot form the basis for a general theory in penal law.