In order for an act committed to be considered criminal, the facts of the offence must be fulfilled. Thus, there must be an object, an objective aspect, a subject and a subjective aspect of the offence. Without these elements, you cannot be charged. In this article, we will look at each of the elements in more detail and explain them in simple terms using real examples.
The constituent elements of a criminal offence is a legal concept that refers to a set of features (both objective and subjective) that define a specific criminal off ence under the Criminal Code. It refers to the conditions that must be met in order for a person’s conduct to qualify as a criminal offence and to be punished for it.
The function of the constituent elements of a criminal offence is to ensure that criminal liability is precisely defined and that the principle of legal certainty and predictability of the law is respected. These features therefore ensure that the different types of offences are clearly defined. The basic features of the offence include:
Tip: We have discussed criminal liability and what the Criminal Code says about it in another article.
An object is a public interest or value protected by criminal law, such as life, health, property, public order, etc. The selection of the object serves to determine what is to be protected and in what way.
Example: life, health and safety of road users. In this case, the aim is to protect the health and life of other people on the roads, as well as their property (e.g. cars).
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The objective aspect of the offence has three components:
Represents specific conduct that is contrary to a legal norm(e.g. physical assault, theft). It can be either active behaviour, where the offender does something (e.g. shooting, theft) or omission, where the offender fails to do something he or she should have done (e.g. failure to render assistance, negligence).
Example: a driver knowingly gets behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol, in violation of a law that prohibits drunk driving. The conduct here is an active act where the driver performs the activity of driving.
At the same time, the circumstances of the conduct are also looked at. In fact, not in all situations is the conduct that could be considered criminal actually a criminal offence. These are in particular so-called exclusionary circumstances. These are situations where a person acts, for example, in extreme necessity (e.g. by acting criminally, he or she prevents a situation that would have had much worse consequences if he or she had not acted) or in necessary defence (e.g. when a person prevents an attack on another person by physical violence).
Tip: You can read more about necessary defence and extreme emergency in our article.
This is a harmful outcome that results from the perpetrator’s action (or inaction) (e.g. injury, loss of property). There are two basic types:
Example: a drunk driver loses control of the vehicle, crashes into another car and causes serious injury to another driver. This causes real and concrete injury to the victim ( = impairment consequence). However, drink-driving itself already constitutes a danger to other road users because it creates a real risk of an accident, even though it may not necessarily occur ( = endangerment consequence).
Causation (causal nexus) is the relationship between the offender’s conduct and the consequence. It must be shown that it was the perpetrator’s conduct that led to the harmful consequence.
Example: it must be proved that drink-driving led to the accident and the subsequent injury to the driver of the other vehicle. In this case, it is clear that the driver’s drunkenness directly affected his ability to drive and was the cause of the accident.
The subject is the person who committed the offence. To be criminally liable, the subject must meet the conditions laid down by law. Specifically, he or she must be over 15 years of age and of sound mind. Legal persons may also be criminally liable, for which the condition of imputability must be met and the act must be performed for the benefit of the legal person .
Example: the driver was over 15 years of age and of sound mind at the time of the offence. He therefore fulfils the conditions for criminal liability.
Tip: We have discussed the criminal liability of legal entities in detail in our article.
The subjective aspect of the offence relates to the internal psychological relationship of the offender to his or her conduct and the consequences of that conduct. The subjective aspect is key to determining criminal liability because it determines whether the perpetrator acted with intent, recklessness or other internal attitude towards the offence. In the subjective aspect, culpability must be present, which is precisely the internal psychological relationship of the perpetrator to his conduct and its consequences. The subjective aspect may be fulfilled:
Example: it is likely to be conscious negligence where the driver knew that his actions could cause an accident but recklessly relied on the fact that nothing would happen.
Tip: What to do in case of a traffic accident? Find out in our article.
Occasionally, some offences may have other necessary features, such as a specific place (in public) or time of the act (e.g. during an emergency).
There are three types of offences, which vary according to the severity of the punishment:
The basic offence is the basic form of the offence, which includes the typical features of the offence without aggravating or mitigating circumstances.
Example: the crime of murder = Whoever intentionally kills another shall be punished by imprisonment for ten to eighteen years.
A qualifying offence includes the essential elements of the offence but contains aggravating circumstances which increase the social danger of the offence. The penalties for qualifying offences are more severe due to the greater seriousness of the offence.
Example: the offence of aggravated murder = Whoever intentionally kills another under the circumstances prescribed by law (e.g. in a particularly brutal or torturous manner or with a motive of racial, ethnic or other hatred) shall be punished by imprisonment for fifteen to twenty years or by an exceptional sentence.
The aggravated offence includes the essential elements of the offence but contains mitigating circumstances which reduce the social danger of the offence. The penalties for privileged offences are more lenient due to the lower seriousness of the offence.
Example: only one offence is currently covered – the murder of a newborn child by its mother. The penalties here are not set as for the ordinary offence of murder, but are more lenient (amounting to imprisonment for three to eight years). This is because the woman may be in a specific physical and psychological state after giving birth.
Tip: We have described everything about imprisonment in another article.
The commission of a criminal offence is a key legal concept that defines theset of features necessary for a person’s conduct to qualify as a criminal offence and for a criminal measure to be imposed for it. It provides a clear definition of criminal liability and promotes legal certainty and predictability. The basic elements of the offence include the object, the objective aspect (conduct, effect and causation), the subject and the subjective aspect. There are three types of facts: basic, qualified and privileged, which differ according to the severity of the penalty and the presence of aggravating or mitigating circumstances.
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