Was kann ein strafrechtlicher Tatbestand leisten?

The increasing codification of delicts in preparation for offences is a reaction to a growing uncertainty in society, and legal sanctions are being administered before actual offences are committed. This means a shift in paradigms from a system based on personal guilt to one that aims at crime prevention. This is associated with increased blurring of the nature of punishment. Based on Kant’s, Feuerbach’s and Hegel’s concepts of the state and criminal law, this thesis outlines the general nature of criminal law in a constitutional state, challenges the efficiency of the elements of a criminal offence and shows its indeterminacy through its overextension of criminal law, which contravenes the principles of a constitutional state. Finally, this study suggests ways to interpret elements of an offence motivated by a law-and-order state in constitutional terms.