What are the Positive and Negative Elements of Crime?

3468
Basil Manning

The positive and negative elements of the crime constitute a set of six positive and negative requirements that must exist for criminal activity to be classified as a crime or not.

Although for the crime to exist, the presence of a party that executes it and another that is affected is essential, in addition to an object on which the criminal action falls, it is essential that the crime meets certain positive requirements so that it can be considered as such.

Otherwise, when negative elements of the crime are found in the situation, the act goes from being against the law to being favored by it.

In the first place, it is necessary to start by defining what the crime is, being able to understand by this the fact of committing a physical or moral offense, or a crime that violates the legal legal systems and the human rights of other citizens.

It can commonly be defined as an infringement of the law of the State, and that results from an external act of man, either positive or negative, considered morally imputable and politically damaging..

The positive and negative elements of the crime are part of the so-called "Theory of crime", which consists of a categorized and sequenced arrangement of all the requirements that must come together so that the act can be considered criminal or not before the law.

These elements constitute a tool of great help for every criminal, who when determining whether a crime has been committed or not, should only take into consideration the presence of the positive or negative elements of the crime..

These elements indicate the course of action to be followed when judging the person who committed the act, being framed within the field of criminal law.

Article index

  • 1 What are the elements of the crime?
  • 2 Positive elements of the crime
    • 2.1 Action or conduct
    • 2.2 Unlawfulness
    • 2.3 Guilt
    • 2.4 Typicality
    • 2.5 Imputability
    • 2.6 Punishment
  • 3 Negative elements of the crime
    • 3.1 Absence of action or conduct
    • 3.2 Absence of unlawfulness
    • 3.3 Blamelessness
    • 3.4 Lack of typicity
    • 3.5 Unimputability
    • 3.6 Excuses acquittal
  • 4 References

What are the elements of the crime?

The positive and negative elements of the crime constitute the components and characteristics that make up the concept and notion of crime under the law..

Hence, the positive elements are the requirements that must be met for a crime to exist.

On the other hand, the negative elements come to be the contradiction of the positive aspects of the crime, being able to emphasize that the mere presence of a negative element brings the non-existence of a positive one, making the crime cannot be classified as such.

Positive elements of the crime

Action or conduct

It refers to the act of committing a crime, that is, for a crime to take place there must be a person who carries out the criminal activity, act, or action.

This behavior is manifested through various actions that man performs, coupled with the presence of a criminal moral will, and can also be carried out in two ways.

The first consists of carrying out an action, while the other may simply be the choice not to act and stop carrying out an activity..

For this positive element to be considered, it is necessary that four elements converge:

  • The externalization of the individual's will to carry out a criminal activity
  • The material performance of the criminal activity, that is, that the materialization of the individual's will can be visibly observed
  • The existence of a visible result caused by the action that was carried out
  • The existence of a causal link between the activity carried out and the results that have occurred.

Unlawfulness

For the crime to be considered as such, the action or act must go against any legal precept established in the norm.

That is, it is essential that the activity carried out goes against the law.

Culpability

For the individual to be classified as guilty, there must be a close and clear relationship between the perpetrator of the conduct and the actual action carried out..

In the same way that the author must have will and knowledge of fact.

Typicity

This positive element comes from the common phrase "There is no crime without law", hence it is crucial to consider an activity as criminal that it is indicated in the law.

That is, the fact must be recognized and defined as a violation of the law, since otherwise it cannot be judged by it..

Said element refers to the famous “legal loopholes” when, because a certain fact is not found in the norm, it cannot be judged..

Imputability

This element is defined as the ability to understand criminal law, that is, the perpetrator must be aware of the act committed, hence it implies that the person has mental health and mental aptitude to act in the criminal field, namely against the law.

Punishment

Once the above elements are defined in the act carried out, it is necessary that the crime be punished.

Hence, when the conduct is punishable, the criminal act is confirmed and the perpetrator is worthy of some penalty or state threat of imposition of sanctions..

Negative elements of the crime

Absence of action or conduct

This element is based on the principle that if there is no conduct that motivates the crime, or if the criminal action or act was not carried out, it cannot be referred to as a crime..

If the subject does not have the will to commit a crime, however he performed the action in the presence, for example, of nervous alterations that are not consciously perceived, or due to sleep, sleepwalking or hypnosis, the act cannot be considered a crime.

Absence of unlawfulness

If the action carried out is not against the law, it cannot be considered a crime.

Blamelessness

If it is not possible to prove that the subject is guilty of carrying out the material action and having the physical and moral will, he cannot be legally sanctioned.

Lack of typicality

If the activity in question is not defined as a crime in the legal framework, it cannot be judged as such..

Unimputability

It refers to the fact that if the individual was not with the full physical and mental capacity to acquire consciousness and understand that the action went against what is established in the law and the norm, he cannot be considered guilty and the act should not be judged neither as a crime.

Acquittal excuses

If the perpetrator manages to expose an excuse in the way, which can be recognized under the law, the punishment of the crime must be eliminated.. 

The acquittals are personal circumstances that prevent the application of the sanction.

References

  1. Crime and criminality. Retrieved on July 22, 2017 from des.ucdavis.edu
  2. Criminal elements. Retrieved on July 22, 2017 from open.lib.umn.edu
  3. Crime and offender. Retrieved on July 22, 2017 from archivos.juridicas.unam.mx
  4. (2016). Elements and negative aspects of the crime. Retrieved on July 23, 2017 from definicionlegal.blogspot.com/
  5. Elements and assumptions of crime. Retrieved on July 22, 2017 from ual.dyndns.org
  6. Legal encyclopedia. (2014). Retrieved on July 23, 2017 from encyclopedia-juridica.biz14.com
  7. Gutiérrez, C. (2003). Tax fraud, problematic of the type and its sanctions. Retrieved on July 22, 2017 from cdigital.dgb.uanl.mx
  8. UBC Press. (2004). What is a crime? Retrieved on July 22, 2017 from ubcpress.ca
  9. Inter-American University for Development. Theory of crime in criminal law. Retrieved on July 21, 2017 from moodlecontent.unid.edu.mx
  10. University of Glasgow. Retrieved on July 21, 2017 from sccjr.ac.uk.

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