BOOK I
GENERAL PART

TITLE I
APPLICATION OF CRIMINAL LAW

SINGLE CHAPTER
GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Article 1. Principle of legality

1. No act or omission may be qualified as crime unless it was defined as such by law before it was committed, with the respective punishment described.

2. Security measures may only be applied to cases of danger to self and others, with the conditions thereof previously determined by law.

Article 2. Prohibition of analogy

No act or omission may be qualified as a crime, in defining danger to self and others or in determining the corresponding legal consequences, through the use of analogy.

Article 3. Applicability of criminal law over time

1. No person may be punished for an act defined as a crime at the time of its commission if a subsequent law no longer considers it as such.

2. In such a case, if a decision convicting the person has already been rendered, execution of said decision and its penal effects shall cease, even when the decision rendered is final.

3. The law subsequent to the commission of the crime shall apply to previous conduct whenever the same proves to be more lenient to the perpetrator and, in the case of a final decision, if any benefit may still be obtained.

Article 22
Nullum crimen sine lege
1. A person shall not be criminally responsible under this Statute unless the conduct in question constitutes, at the time it takes place, a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court.
2. The definition of a crime shall be strictly construed and shall not be extended by analogy. In case of ambiguity, the definition shall be interpreted in favour of the person being investigated, prosecuted or convicted.
3. This article shall not affect the characterization of any conduct as criminal under international law independently of this Statute.