Criminal liability for third person's act: case of release on bail

I.1.1.2.3. moral element

The occurrence of a criminal act is not sufficient to engage the criminal responsibility of the author. Indeed, it is still necessary that the agent has free will to do so. In other words, the agent must be able to account for his actions. It is moral imputabilty or moral attribution to the person, that is to say, the attachment of an offense against a person who may be held liable for his actions. Thus, it is necessary that the agent has committed a criminal act, it is issue of culpability. The moral imputabilty is external to the offense, while guilt is a component^28(*). The criminal law does not punish automatically unlawful acts because it is not enough. There must have been the will of the author or his voluntary failure. It is the intellectual element of offense often called moral or psychological element^29(*).

imputability

The criminal intent, supposes the will directed to a result that he knows illegal. The intentional act is an act of will but the act of will is not necessarily intentional, because it may be constitutive of imprudence or negligence^30(*).

The legal concept of criminal imputability can be ethimologically defined from the Latin term ``imputare``, meaning ``to put on the account of'', thus, it supposes the existence of free will and the lucid intelligence of author^31(*)

guilt

Guilt is a link between the offender to his act. Guilt is characterized by the will to commit the offense knowingly, it is guilty intent^32(*).

* ²⁸P. Canin, Idem p.61,

* ²⁹R. BERNARDINI, Op. Cit., p.374

* ³⁰ P. Canin, Op. Cit., p.62

* ³¹ R. BERNARDINI, Op. Cit., pp.376- 377.

* ³²Idem., p383