刑法總則乃法律系一年級學生必修之基礎科目，在國家考試上亦佔有一席之地，對於學生畢業後可能從事之檢察官、法官或律師業務尤為重要。由於我國刑法於2005年大幅修法，後又密集修法，數年來相關實務見解推陳出新，加上各家學說併陳，因此教學範圍相當龐大。
本課程之教學設計，首要在於刑法總則基本原則及基本觀念的建立。其次，法律作為一門社會科學，為了合理而嚴謹地在各種相衝突的利益間找到平衡點，它的學習無法與實務脫節，有鑑於此，本課程亦兼顧我國法院的刑事裁判，採擇其中具有代表性者，於相關教學章節中評釋與討論。
Criminal law (general part) is a basic subject that students of Law Department have to study; furthermore, it is also an important subject of national law examinations. And for prosecutors, judges and lawyers, it is also essential to perform their duties with sufficient legal profession. As the legislation had been substantially amended and revised in 2005, the contents of the course have been expanded.
The course will focus on basic principles and concepts of modern criminal law. Furthermore, as a branch of social science, the study of law must cross the boundaries of theory and actual practices. Therefore, the course also focuses on criminal decisions and judgments of the Supreme Court in Taiwan and select representative ones as study materials, depending on the legal issues and theories expressed therein.