The Consent Solution to Punishment and the Explicit Denial Objection

• Main Author: Miroslav Imbrisevic
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of the Basque Country 2010-06-01
• Series: THEORIA : an International Journal for Theory, History and Fundations of Science
• Subjects: Carlos S. Nino; consensual theory of punishment; explicit denial objection; tacit consent; irrevocability
• Online Access: http://www.ehu.es/ojs/index.php/THEORIA/article/view/636

<span lang="EN-GB"><p>Recently, David Boonin has put forward several objections to Carlos S. Nino's 'Consensual Theory of Punishment'. In this paper I will defend Nino against the 'explicit denial objection'. I will discuss whether Boonin's interpretation of Nino as a tacit consent theorist is right. I will argue that the offender's consent is neither tacit nor express, but a special category of implicit consent. Further, for Nino the legal-normative consequences of an act (of crime) are 'irrevocable', i.e. one cannot (expressly and successfully) deny liability to them. I will suggest an explanation for Nino's irrevocability claim.</p></span>