Journal of Criminal Law and Penal Studies is a quarterly scientific journal founded in 1997 in Krakow, Poland, dedicated to the issues of substantive criminal law, criminal trial, executive law and criminology, theory and philosophy of criminal law, as well as problems from the borderline between criminal law and other social sciences.

We combine the ideas of the highest standards of research with a real impact on the creation, interpretation and application of criminal law.

We nurture the best scientific traditions of the Cracow School of Criminal Law.

Readers of the Journal enjoy free open access to all online publications.

Readers accustomed to the traditional paper edition can collect archival and new paper copies in their library, which - starting in 2025. - we publish once a year.

From 1997 to 2014, the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Criminal Law and Penal Studies was Prof. Andrzej Zoll, PhD.