Martin Hapla is associate professor and department head – Department of Legal Theory – at the Faculty of Law Masaryk University in Brno. He teaches legal theory and legal ethics.

Abstract:
This article develops a comprehensive theory of the moral limits of disciplinary law. Drawing inspiration from the harm principle, it argues that disciplinary responsibility should be grounded not in a direct transposition of that principle from criminal law, but in a modified version tailored to the distinctive nature of disciplinary systems. The central modification consists in an emphasis on institutional harm as the relevant type of harm for this kind of responsibility. The article further examines how competing moral considerations may justify refraining from sanctioning certain harmful conduct and proposes proportionality as an appropriate framework for weighing such considerations. Finally, it offers a justification of the proposed theory grounded in consequentialist ethics, while acknowledging the possibility of alternative normative foundations.

Programme:
16.00-17.00 Presentation: Institutional Harm and Moral Limits of Disciplinary Law. Comments by Katalin Budai (assistant, Center for Theory of Law and Society).