An international journal of criminal law · Open for submissions

Criminal law, in doctrine and in context

Acta Juris Criminalis is an independent international journal. It publishes work across criminal law doctrine, social-science approaches to criminal law, comparative and international criminal law, and criminal justice.

Submissions are open. Founding editorial appointments will be announced when confirmed.

Criminal law doctrine

Close analysis of offences, responsibility, punishment, and legal concepts.

Social-science criminal law

Empirical, criminological, and socio-legal inquiry into criminal law.

Comparative & international

Cross-jurisdictional scholarship and international criminal law.

Criminal justice

Procedure, evidence, institutions, and the life of the criminal process.

About the journal

Broad in scope, rigorous in method

Acta Juris Criminalis will publish scholarship that takes criminal law seriously as an object of doctrinal, social, and political inquiry.

The journal welcomes work in the tradition of criminal law doctrine—the close analysis of legal rules, offences, responsibility, and punishment—as well as social-science approaches that situate criminal law in its social, institutional, and political context. It will publish comparative and international criminal law, criminal justice scholarship, and work that crosses disciplinary boundaries.

The journal is being developed as an independent, international forum. It is committed to careful editorial work, serious engagement with argument, and scholarship that is accessible to readers across jurisdictions and traditions.

Topics covered by the journal

  • Criminal law theory
  • Offences & responsibility
  • Punishment & sentencing
  • Criminology & society
  • Evidence & procedure
  • Comparative criminal law
  • International criminal justice
  • Empirical legal studies

Read the full aims & scope

Latest articles

Volume 1 (2026)

Publication model

Open access. Published online.

Acta Juris Criminalis publishes open access, online, with no article processing charge (APC). Articles are published continuously in Volume 1 (2026).

Publication model and charges

Access
Open access
Distribution
Online
APC
None at present

For authors

Submission information

All information for authors

Submissions are open. Manuscripts are prepared in LaTeX and submitted through the ORCID portal; each is assessed under double-anonymous peer review.

Manuscripts are prepared in LaTeX by default. The journal shares a two-column manuscript template with the other Acta journals, and the template is available now. Articles are published open access, online, continuously in Volume 1 (2026), with no APC.

Manuscript preparation

Two-column LaTeX template

A complete submission package: the anonymous manuscript, the title page with all declarations, the cover letter with research highlights, and a README. Download it as one zip archive.

What we can confirm

  • The journal is open for submissions.
  • Open access, published online, with no APC at present.
  • Manuscripts are prepared in LaTeX using a shared two-column template.
  • Submissions: open via the ORCID submission portal.
  • Call for papers: open.
  • Peer review: double-anonymous, at least 2 reviewers, 30-day window.

Read the submission information

Journal status

Launch status
Status
Open for submissions
Publication model
Open access · Online
APC
None at present
First issue
Volume 1 (2026), continuous
Editorial appointments
Founding board in progress
Submission information
Open

Journal information

Status and updates

Launch status

A journal open for submissions

Learn about the journal as it takes shape.

The scope is set: criminal law doctrine, social-science approaches to criminal law, comparative and international criminal law, and criminal justice. Submissions are open.

Submissions are open · No issue has yet been published