Acting Together in Crime (PDF-Download)

Acknowledgements 7

1. Introduction 13
Laura Peters

2. Five Remarkable Judgments 17
Laura Peters
2.1 Case I: Strangulation by Carrier Strap 17
2.1.1 Relevant Facts and Circumstances 17
2.1.2 The Judgments of the Lower Courts 17
2.1.3 The Proceedings before the Supreme Court 19
2.2 Case II. Extortion Resulting in Unintended Death 20
2.2.1 The Relevant Facts and Circumstances 20
2.2.2 The Judgments of the Lower Courts 21
2.2.3 The Proceedings before the Supreme Court 21
2.3 Case III. Passive Assistance to a Housemate’s Manslaughter 23
2.3.1 The Relevant Facts and Circumstances 23
2.3.2 The Judgments of the Lower Courts 23
2.3.3 The Proceedings before the Supreme Court 24
2.4 Case IV: Stabbing on New Year’s Eve 25
2.4.1 The Relevant Facts and Circumstances 25
2.4.2 The Judgments of the Lower Courts 25
2.4.3 The Proceedings before the Supreme Court 26
2.5 Case V. Murder at the Biesbosch 28
2.5.1 The Relevant Facts and Circumstances 28
2.5.2 The Judgments of the Lower Courts 29
2.5.3 The Proceedings before the Supreme Court 31

3. The Netherlands 33
Laura Peters
3.1 Historical Context: the Development of the 1886 Penal Code 33
3.1.1 The Broader Context: Europe’s First Criminal Law Codifications 33
3.1.2 The First Penal Code of the Kingdom of Holland 35
3.1.3 Towards a New Criminal Code: the 1886 Penal Code 35
3.1.4 Characteristics of the 1886 Penal Code 37
3.2 Perpetration and Participation in Crime under the 1886 Penal Code 38
3.2.1 The Concept of Perpetration and the Necessity of Rules on Participation in Crime 38
3.2.2 The Adoption of a Differentiated System 39
3.2.3 Forms of Criminal Participation and their Legal Provisions 40
3.2.4 General Requirements of Participation in crime 43
3.2.5 The Distinction between Joint Perpetration and Aiding 45
3.2.6 Relevant Changes in the Concept of Criminal Perpetration after 1886 47
3.3 Joint Perpetration 50
3.3.1 The Objective Side of Joint Perpetration: a Close Collaboration 51
3.3.2 The Subjective Side of Joint Perpetration 57
3.3.3 The Supreme Court’s Judgment of 2 December 2014 64
3.4 Aiding 66
3.4.1 The Objective Side of Aiding 67
3.4.2 The Subjective Side of Aiding 70
3.5 Conclusion 74

4. France 77
Tony Marguery
4.1 Introduction 77
4.2 Historical Background concerning the Concept of Complicity 78
4.2.1 The New Definition of Instigation 79
4.2.2 Complicity with regard to Contraventions 80
4.2.3 Sentencing of Assistance to Crime under the Old System 80
4.2.4 Co-author and Accomplice: a Difficult Distinction 82
4.3 Sentencing 84
4.4 Joint Perpetration 85
4.4.1 The Conditions of Joint Perpetration 85
4.4.2 Case I 87
4.5 Assistance to Crime 88
4.5.1 The Conditions for Assistance to Crime 89
4.5.2 Sentencing for Complicity in or Assistance to Crime 94
4.5.3 Case IV 94
4.5.4 Case V 96
4.6 Joint Perpetration or Assistance to Crime? 97
4.6.1 Case II 97
4.6.2 Case III 100
4.7 Conclusion 101

5. Germany 103
Johanna Rinceanu
5.1 Introduction 103
5.2 Historical Background 103
5.3 Joint Perpetration 104
5.3.1 Case I 106
5.3.2 Case II 107
5.4 Assistance to Crime 108
5.4.1 Case III 109
5.4.2 Case IV 110
5.5 Joint Perpetration or Assistance to crime: Case V 110
5.6 Current Legal Debate 111

6. Austria 113
Christoph Zehetgruber
6.1 Introduction 113
6.2 Historical Background 113
6.3 Joint Perpetration 116
6.3.1 Case I 120
6.3.2 Case II 123
6.4 Assistance to Crime: Cases III and IV 128
6.4.1 Case III 128
6.4.2 Case IV 130
6.5 Joint Perpetration or Assistance to Crime: Case V 132
6.6 Current Legal Debate 134

7. Italy 135
Attilio Nisco
7.1 Introduction 135
7.2 Historical Background 135
7.3 Current Legislation 137
7.3.1 Legal Provisions and Criteria in Relation to Cases I, II, III and V 141
7.4 The borderline case: Case V 148
7.5 Current Legal Debate 149

8. Résumé and Conclusion 155
Laura Peters
8.1 Five Challenging Aspects of the Dutch Regulation on Joint perpetration and Aiding 155
8.2 Foreign Approaches to the Dutch Cases 159
8.2.1 Methodology 159
8.2.2 Differentiated Systems and Unified systems 159
8.2.3 Joint Perpetration; Passivity and Absence at the Crime Scene (Cases I and V) 161
8.2.4 Joint Perpetration; Differences in Criminal Intent (Case II) 165
8.2.5 Aiding by Omission (Case III) 166
8.2.6 Aiding; Differences in Criminal Intent (Case IV) 168
8.2.7 The Distinction between Joint Perpetration and Aiding (Cases II and V) 170
8.3 Closing Remarks 172

About the Authors 175