Some claim that criminalisation is morally permissible only when the conduct criminalised is morally wrong. This claim can be disambiguated into at least three principles which differ according to whether, and how, wrongness is dependent on details of the law: the strong constraint, the moderate constraint, and the weak constraint. In this paper I argue that the weak wrongness constraint is preferable to the strong and moderate constraints. That is, we should prefer the view that conduct criminalised must be morally wrong, but qualifying wrongness can depend on criminalising the conduct first. Further, I will show that my arguments in support of the weak wrongness constraint have wider implications. Favouring the weak wrongness constraint implies that condemning wrongs cannot be the only legitimate reason in favour of criminalisation. Those who think condemnation can justify criminalisation should be pluralists.

一些人声称，只有当被定罪的行为在道德上是错误的时，才在道德上允许定罪。这一主张至少可以分为三个原则，这些原则根据错误是否以及如何取决于法律的细节而有所不同：强约束、中等约束和弱约束。在本文中，我认为弱错误约束优于强约束和中等约束。也就是说，我们应该更倾向于认为被定罪的行为在道德上一定是错误的，但限定的错误可能取决于首先将行为定罪。此外，我将证明我支持弱错误约束的论点具有更广泛的含义。支持弱错误约束意味着谴责错误不能成为支持刑事定罪的唯一合法理由。