Comparative method in criminal law as a tool of legal research and education
The study explores the comparative method in criminal law as a crucial tool for legal research and education. The authors examine its application in different legal traditions, while pointing out significant differences between common law and continental law approaches. They argue that globalization has heightened the need for comparative legal studies, as nations increasingly interact and adapt legal principles across jurisdictions. However, the research highlights challenges, particularly the strong differences in criminal law systems, shaped by historical, cultural, and political factors. The paper employs key methodological tools, such as analysis, synthesis, and modeling, which help structure comparative legal research. It also emphasizes the role of comparative law in overall legal harmonization and reform, while providing insights into how legal systems define crimes, determine liability, and apply punishments. The authors conclude that comparative criminal law should not exist in isolation but as part of broader comparative legal studies, thereby contributing to the development of criminal law theory and practice. This research is particularly relevant in the context of Ukraine’s legal integration with European and other global legal systems, demonstrating how comparative methodology can inform national legal reforms and improve the effectiveness of criminal justice systems worldwide.
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2026 DIXI
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Every single author of the articles has to declare that is an original unpublished work exclusively created by them, that it has not been submitted for simultaneous evaluation by another publication and that there is no impediment of any kind for concession of the rights provided for in the contract.
In this sense, the authors committed to await the result of the evaluation by the journal DIXI before considering its submission to another medium; in case the response by that publication is positive, additionally, the authors committed to respond for any action involving claims, plagiarism or any other kind of claim that could be made by third parties.
At the same time, the authors have to declare that they are completely in agreement with the conditions presented in their work and that they cede all patrimonial rights. These rights involve reproduction, public communication, distribution, dissemination, transformation, making it available and all forms of exploitation of the work using any medium or procedure, during the term of the legal protection of the work and in every country in the world, to the Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia Press.
Dubber, M., & Hörnle, T. (2014). Criminal law: A comparative approach. Oxford University Press.
Hazard, J. N. (1951). Comparative law in legal education. University of Chicago Law Review, 18(2), 264–279. [https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2673&context=uclrev](https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2673&context=uclrev) DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1597680
Kamensky, D. (2020). Practical nuances of legal translation in the field of comparative criminal law (based on works by Ukrainian and American comparativists). Comparative and Analytical Law, (4), 615–621. [http://pap-journal.in.ua/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/PAP-4_2020.pdf](http://pap-journal.in.ua/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/PAP-4_2020.pdf)
Kamensky, D. (2021). Globalization, COVID-19 pandemic and white collar crime: A new threatening combination. The Lawyer Quarterly, 11(4), 625–640. [https://tlq.ilaw.cas.cz/index.php/tlq/article/view/487](https://tlq.ilaw.cas.cz/index.php/tlq/article/view/487)
Kharitonov, R. (2016). Sectoral legal comparative studies: General theoretical research (Thesis dissertation, Odesa Law Academy). [https://dspace.onua.edu.ua/server/api/core/bitstreams/12a5dc2c-0ba2-4102-91f9-996de5c697f0/content](https://dspace.onua.edu.ua/server/api/core/bitstreams/12a5dc2c-0ba2-4102-91f9-996de5c697f0/content)
Khavronyuk, M. (2006). Criminal legislation of Ukraine and other states of continental Europe: Comparative analysis, problems of harmonization. Yuryskonsult.
Kresin, O. (2017). Formation of theoretical foundations of comparative legal studies in the second half of the 18th – first third of the 19th century: Comparative conceptualization. Logos.
Kresin, O. (2019). Introductory word. Law of Ukraine, (3), 16–29. [http://jnas.nbuv.gov.ua/article/UJRN-0001043859](http://jnas.nbuv.gov.ua/article/UJRN-0001043859)
Lutsenko, Y., Motyl, V., Tarasiuk, A., Areshonkov, V., Diakin, Y., & Kamensky, D. (2023). Globalization of white-collar crime: Far and beyond national jurisdictions. Cuestiones Políticas, 41(76), 64–75. [https://doi.org/10.46398/cuestpol.4176.03](https://doi.org/10.46398/cuestpol.4176.03) DOI: https://doi.org/10.46398/cuestpol.4176.03
McLeod, A. M. (2010). Exporting U.S. criminal justice. Yale Law and Policy Review, 29(1), 83–164. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/41308526](https://www.jstor.org/stable/41308526)
Meyer Jr., J. C. (1976). Discontinuity in the delivery of public service: Analyzing the police strike. Human Relations, 29(6), 545–557. [https://doi.org/10.1177/001872677602900604](https://doi.org/10.1177/001872677602900604) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/001872677602900604
Movchan, R., Kamensky, D., Pysmenskyy, Y., Dudorov, O., & Prokofieva-Yanchylenko, D. (2023). Protection of the environment under the draft Criminal Code of Ukraine and the European criminal law: A comparative study. Amazonia Investiga, 12(64), 65–72. [https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2023.64.04.6](https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2023.64.04.6) DOI: https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2023.64.04.6
Mueller, G. O. W. (1958). Teaching of comparative law in the course on criminal law. Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology & Police Science, 49(2), 102–109. [https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4688&context=jclc](https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4688&context=jclc) DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1140919
Myroshnychenko, V., Kamensky, D., Lysenko, T., Makarenko, T., & Petiahina, I. (2024). “Defense of Ukraine” degree program for future school teachers: A new element of Ukrainian higher education. Revista Eduweb, 18(1), 190–203. [https://doi.org/10.46502/issn.1856-7576/2024.18.01.14](https://doi.org/10.46502/issn.1856-7576/2024.18.01.14) DOI: https://doi.org/10.46502/issn.1856-7576/2024.18.01.14
Palmer, V. V. (2001). Insularity and leadership in American comparative law: The past one hundred years. Tulane Law Review, 75(4), 1093–1102. [https://www.tulanelawreview.org/pub/volume75/issue4/insularity-and-leadership-in-american-comparative-law](https://www.tulanelawreview.org/pub/volume75/issue4/insularity-and-leadership-in-american-comparative-law)
Rebet, L. (2017). Comparative method in the science of law. Logos. [https://jurkniga.ua/contents/porivnyalna-metoda-v-nauci-pro-pravo.pdf](https://jurkniga.ua/contents/porivnyalna-metoda-v-nauci-pro-pravo.pdf)
Reitz, J. (2002). A life in the craft of comparative law. Michigan Law Review, 100(6). [https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol100/iss6/13/](https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol100/iss6/13/) DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1290450
Schadbach, K. (1998). The benefits of comparative law: A continental European view. Boston University International Law Journal, 16(2), 331–389. [https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/builj16&div=4](https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/builj16&div=4)
Siems, M. (2018). Comparative law (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316856505
Sullivan, J. E., & Kamensky, D. (2024). Putin’s power play: Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s electric power infrastructure violate international law. The Electricity Journal, 37(2). [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tej.2024.107371](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tej.2024.107371) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tej.2024.107371
Wharton, F. (1883). Comparative criminal jurisprudence. Criminal Law Magazine, 4(1), 2–22.
