We explain what the elements of crime are, how they are classified, what the relationship is like between them and the characteristics of each one.
What are the elements of the crime?
According to the General Theory of Crime, the elements of the crime or elements of the crime are the set of characteristics and essential components that constitute every crime. Through them it is possible to study it, through a structural decomposition.
These elements are not independent. In fact, they are taken into account in each specific case by the judges or authorities in charge of issuing a criminal judgment.
There is no exact and universal consensus regarding what the elements of the crime are, since there are variations in this regard in the different jurisprudence of the countries. These are classified as positive or negative, depending on whether they lead, respectively, to the conviction or acquittal of the accused.
Broadly speaking, they are the following:
- Subjects of the crime The people or individuals involved in the commission of a crime, and who, according to their role in it, may be:
- Active subject The natural person who commits the criminal offense.
- Passive subject The person who suffers the crime, whether a personal person (natural person) or impersonal person (legal or legal entity).
- The action of the crime Every crime involves a voluntary action or omission carried out by an individual (actus reus), and that gives rise to the crime. These actions must be intentional, voluntary and conscious, so that a sleepwalker, an insane person or an unconscious person is not guilty of the actions or omissions committed, nor is an epileptic guilty of the spasms of his body.
- The typicality of the crime “Typicality” is called the adaptation of the action to the crimes defined in the law, that is, to the type of crime in question, what are its characteristics and prohibitive elements, etc. After all, everything that is illegal must be covered by law.
- The illegality of the crime When we talk about “illegality”, it refers to exactly the opposite of the law: that an act is essentially contrary to the current legal system. Thus, crimes are illegal acts, declared as such when compared with what is contemplated in the nation's legal system. Illegal events lack possible justification, since they fail to comply with an explicit legal norm.
- The guilt of the crime In this case it is a psychological relationship of the perpetrator of the crime with respect to the act committed, according to four general forms of guilt or responsibility:
- Imprudence Committing a crime by action, being able to do more to avoid it.
- Negligence Committing a crime through inaction.
- Incompetence Committing a crime due to lacking the minimum knowledge necessary to do what was done.
- Failure to comply with regulations It occurs when known rules are violated (therefore, falling into recklessness) or when, knowing that there are regulations, one ignores them (falling, then, into negligence).
- Punishability of the crime This element, highly debated in certain legal orders, implies the existence of an impossible penalty once the other elements of the crime have been proven for the case in question.
Continue with: Legality
References
- “Theory of crime” in Wikipedia.
- “The legal theory of crime” in Paladino Pelón & Asociados.
- “2.2 Elements of the crime” in the Judiciary of Michoacán (Mexico).
- “Elements of the Theory of Crime: active subjects, passive subjects, action or omission, typicality, illegality, guilt and penalty or punishability” in Iberley (Spain).
- “The elements of crime” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.
