<![CDATA[A crime, as an act punishable by law, must be deemed unlawful as the imposition of punishment for something that is not unlawful is inherently arbitrary. Nevertheless, the precise essence of unlawfulness in the context of a crime remains a topic of debate among legal scholars. Furthermore, the inclination to conflate the concept of unlawfulness in criminal law with that of tort in civil law poses the risk of infringing upon the principle of legality, which is fundamental to criminal law. The current study aims to present an alternative viewpoint on the concept of unlawfulness, specifically from the standpoint of the rechtsgut theory. This theory originates from German criminal law and has demonstrated its efficacy in addressing certain legal issues. The study employs normative legal methodologies, incorporating primary and secondary legal sources. The research findings indicate that, according to the rechtsgut theory, the essence of the unlawfulness of crime pertains to the injury upon legal good as protected legal interests within a criminal provision, absent any justifiable rationale as a manifestation of protecting a more priority legal good. Thus, the essence of unlawfulness is contingent upon the protected legal interests outlined in a criminal provision, and such essence does not conflict with the principle of legality.]]>
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