This book celebrates Andreas (Andrew) von Hirsch’s pioneering contributions to liberal criminal theory. He is particularly noted for reinvigorating desert-based theories of punishment, for his development of principled normative constraints on the enactment of criminal laws, and for helping to bridge the gap between Anglo-American and German criminal law scholarship. Underpinning his work is a deep commitment to a liberal vision of the state. This collection brings together a distinguished group of international authors, who pay tribute to von Hirsch by engaging with topics on which he himself has focused. The essays range across sentencing theory, questions of criminalisation, and the relation between criminal law and the authority of the state. Together, they articulate and defend the ideal of a liberal criminal justice system, and present a fitting accolade to Andreas von Hirsch’s scholarly life.

The novice is unlikely to recognize the level of sophistication this book contains...Liberal Criminal Theory is an outstanding collection of papers that pay tribute to a great and important scholar. Every single article is worth reading... -- Douglas Husak * Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Online *

A P Simester is Professor of Law and Provost's Chair at the National University of Singapore, an Honorary Research Fellow at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, and Honorary Professor in Law at Uppsala University.
Antje du Bois-Pedain is a University Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge.
Ulfrid Neumann is Professor of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Legal Theory and Sociology of Law at the Goethe-University in Frankfurt.