Public Law Studies Quarterly

The Formation of the Knowledge Structure of Criminal Law in Light of the Modern Governance Idea

Articles in Press

Document Type : Article

Authors

Zahra Sarempour 1
Seyyed Saeid Mousavi asl 2
Mohammad hadi sadeghi 3

1 Ph.D. Student in criminal law and criminology, Department of criminal law and criminology, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of shiraz, shiraz, Iran

2 Assistant Pro., Department of criminal law and criminology, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Shiraz, Shiraz, Iran

3 ,Associate Prof., Department of criminal law and criminology, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of shiraz, shiraz, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22059/jplsq.2025.397794.3775
Abstract
The knowledge of criminal law, as a modern branch of knowledge influenced by the transformations of the European Renaissance and the evolutions of the Enlightenment era, and based on fundamental changes in legal and political thought, possesses a structure that has materialized based on the nature of the state and the logic of modern governance. The separation of the public sphere from the private sphere and the formation of the nation-state identity prepared the ground for politics to transcend religious perspectives, as well as virtue ethics and the teleology of governance. In such a way, new governance adopts a mechanical approach based on the rationality of state interest and, by focusing on the construction of the state based on the autonomous will and reason of humankind, the preservation of the state and the mechanism of governance gain centrality with a secular perspective, independent of traditional and religious logic. In such a context, modern criminal law finds its existence and limitations within the framework of modern governance and its exigencies. It reclaims its identity as the most important part of public law, and its knowledge structure is formulated based on state-centric governance and oriented towards the police state and the military-diplomatic apparatus. It is self-evident that this knowledge structure, considering its foundations and premises, lacks the capacity for convergence and linkage with religious approaches to criminal law, such as  Islamic criminal jurisprudence.

Keywords

Public Sphere
Criminal Law
Structure
Governance
Knowledge
Nation-State
Subjects

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Public Law Studies Quarterly

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 18 January 2026

  • Receive Date 01 July 2025
  • Revise Date 14 December 2025
  • Accept Date 08 December 2025

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