Comparative Conversations on Causation and Culpability in the Criminal Law

Friday, May 2, 2014

Organized by the Buffalo Criminal Law Center, this conference brought together speakers from Europe, Latin America and the United States to talk about a wide variety of issues related either to causation or culpability in the criminal law. Specific issues include, but were not limited to:

  • Criticism of the Model Penal Code's approach to causation
  • Recklessness and Dolus Eventualis
  • The culpability of corporations
  • The culpability of accomplices

The ultimate goal of the conference was to lay the foundation for future comparative criminal law conversations. The event was part of the BCLC Comparative Criminal Law Conversations Project, which strives to bridge the gap between common and civil law approaches to the criminal justice issues of our day.

Program and Audio Recordings

Welcome - Luis Chiesa, Professor and Director of the Buffalo Criminal Law Center, UB School of Law

Session 1

Imputing Liability: The Culpability of Corporations and Accomplices

Presenters:

  • Heidi M. Hurd, David C. Baum Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy
    Co-Director, Program in Law and Philosophy, University of Illinois College of Law
  • Amy J. Sepinwall, Assistant Professor, Legal Studies and Business Ethics, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
  • John Vervaele, Professor in Economic and European Criminal Law (Utrecht University) and Professor in European Criminal Law (Brugge)

Session 2

Culpability: Philosophical Perspectives

Presenters:

  • Deborah W. Denno, Arthur A. McGivney Professor, Fordham University School of Law
  • Stephen P. Garvey, Professor, Cornell University Law School
  • Adam Kolber, Professor, Brooklyn Law School

Session 3

Culpability: Domestic and International Perspectives

Presenters:

  • Kenneth W. Simons, Professor, Boston University School of Law
  • Kai Ambos - Institute for Criminal Law & Criminal Justice; Head Dept. for Foreign and International Criminal Law; Chair for Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Comparative Law and International Criminal Law at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany

Session 4

Causation and the Fair Attribution of Harm in the Criminal Law I

Presenters:

  • Jean Pierre Matus, Professor of Criminal Law, University of Chile
  • Paul H. Robinson, Colin S. Diver Professor, University of Pennsylvania Law School

Session 5

Causation and the Fair Attribution of Harm in the Criminal Law II

Presenters:

  • Anthony Duff, Professor and Russell M. and Elizabeth M. Bennett Chair in Excellence, University of Minnesota Law School; and Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Stirling
  • Sandra Marshall, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Stirling
  • Manuel Cancio Meliá, Professor, Universidad Autonoma of Madrid