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' moneycorruption and
conflicts of interest in political decision-makingimmunities and procedural obstacles to the
effective prosecution of politiciansabuse of criminal law and criminal proceedings in the
political arenacriminal 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.
