ABSTRACT
In liberal democracies, criminal law and penal policy were once bound by clearly defined parameters to distinguish governance in democracies from the non-democratic world. From the 1980s, however, there is a focus on protecting the public, at the expense of individual rights from those who would otherwise put it at risk. As this has occurred, criminal law has become more regulatory, punitive an extensive. It will be argued that the rise and influence of penal populism lies behind these transformations. It illustrates their extent and importance and explains why populist influences should have had so much purchase in this particular sector.
