Criminal responsibility

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Criminal responsibility is not limited only to those who perform the criminal acts themselves. As a general principle, anyone who “aids and abets” the perpetrator by encouraging or in any way knowingly helping him (for instance, by providing information, implements, or practical help) is an accomplice and is considered equally guilty. Those who actually perform the criminal act (e.g., wielding the weapon that strikes the fatal blow) are called principals in the first degree; those who assist at the time of the commission of the offense (e.g., holding the victim down while the principal in the first degree strikes the blow) are principals in the second degree; and those who assist before the crime takes place (e.g., by lending the weapon or by providing information) are accessories before the fact. As a general rule, all are equally responsible in the eyes of the law and liable to the same punishment. In many cases the accessory before the fact will be considered more culpable – if, for instance, he has instigated the offense and arranged for it to be committed. In some cases the person who actually performs the act that causes the crime is completely innocent of evil intent – for instance, the nurse who administers to a patient, on the doctor’s instructions, what she believes to be medicine but what is in fact poison. In this situation the person who carries out the act is an innocent agent and is not criminally responsible; the person who causes the innocent agent to act is the principal in the first degree. The accessory after the fact is one who helps a felon to evade arrest or conviction, by, for example, hiding him or destroying evidence.

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Дата добавления: 2014-11-29