Abstract

This article asks whether the offence of treason can be justified in a Liberal state. The paper examines the treason offence, which, strangely for an offence that exists in every state and is often considered the gravest of offences, has not engendered much theoretical discussion. In criminalising the most direct challenge to the authority .of the state, treason presents a serious test to any theory of criminalisation as well as to any theory of the state. the offence raises fundamental questions about the relationship between the state and its subjects: does the offence presuppose that legal subjects owe the state loyalty—and is this an obligation that may be enforced coercively. Keywords: criminal law, legal theory, criminal offences, treason, criminal law theory