Normative Ethical Framework based on criminological thinking and Human Rights: solid foundations framed in the recognition of intrinsic dignity, equity and reason

Abstract

The present study analyzes the construction of an ethical regulatory framework based on criminological thinking and Human Rights: solid foundations framed in the recognition of intrinsic dignity, equity and reason. Starting from the premise of the intrinsic dignity of every person, the founding principle of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the contributions and limitations of the main criminological schools are examined, with emphasis on the methodological error of the positivist etiological paradigm, which pathologized the criminal and reinforced social stereotypes. The development argues that overcoming this approach requires integrating the principles of universality, inalienability, indivisibility and interdependence of human rights with a critical criminology aware of the structural selectivity of punitive power. The conclusion underscores the need for an explicit professional deontology that translates these abstract principles into concrete standards of practice, thereby promoting a justice system that is both effective and ethically legitimate.