Examples of causation in criminal law

In accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, the establishment of causal relationships is a mandatory point in the investigation of crimes. It is the link between certain events or conditions and the final result of an unlawful action or inaction. This type of connection takes place only in cases where the crime is brought to an end, namely, negative consequences have occurred.

basic information

Causation in criminal law is used to detect the guilt of a person in a particular crime. According to the law, responsibility is borne only for consequences dangerous to society associated with the action or inaction of the offender. Consequently, if the negative consequences for society have arisen due to the acts (or their absence) of a citizen, then he must be prosecuted. In the case when socially dangerous consequences have occurred due to the actions or behavior of other persons, no sanction measures can be applied to a citizen. In this regard, the question of whether a person’s act can cause the onset of negative or criminal consequences is important.

Criminal law as a science

This humanitarian discipline is based on materialistic philosophy. The scientific theory of a causal relationship between a person’s action (or lack thereof) and their negative outcome for society comes from the fact that in nature all events are interconnected and determined.

Any actions or lack of actions of a person are due to something. In order to understand whether the behavior of a citizen was the reason for the onset of dangerous consequences for society, a special method is used in criminal law. These two events are artificially isolated from each other, after which it becomes clear which of them was the cause and which was the consequence. Such a method in materialistic philosophy and the legislation of the Russian Federation is a starting step in conducting an investigation and deciding whether there is a causal relationship. In criminal law, the theory proceeds from the doctrine of laws and natural events.

Philosophical-materialistic theory

This doctrine involves the substantiation of the need for processes and phenomena that are interconnected. That is, in specific conditions, events develop systematically.

Accident, on the contrary, does not have a significant attachment to previous events. It is rather a side effect that does not necessarily occur and cannot be predicted.

Philosophical-materialist theory considers necessity as a set of coincidences. As a result, randomness is an integral part and manifestation of necessity.
Given all the circumstances of the incident, criminal law considers it as a result of necessity and chance. That is, crimes can be natural and spontaneous, but responsibility for them comes only when necessary. This is due to the fact that a person is able to correctly reflect, cognize only regular events.

The conclusion that the crime was the result of the actions of a particular person is made on the basis of the time sequence. For example, if a person’s action occurred after the result, then it can not be considered as a reason.

Types of communication

Currently, there are two categories that characterize the corpus delicti. Examples of causation:

1. Straight. At the same time, the development of the event was provoked by the behavior of a person who carried a danger to society. No other forces and people influenced the process. For example, a criminal shot the victim right in the heart.
2. Complicated differs in that the end result is the action of not only the attacker, but also third-party forces. For example, one person pushed the other slightly, the victim slipped and fell under the wheels of the car.

In the second case, examples of causation are characterized by the presence of the possibility of committing a crime and the action of outside forces.

During the investigation, the person’s liability for the incident decreases depending on the amount of external influence on the event, criminal intent and other circumstances are taken into account.

Examples of causation

In order to be able to consider the behavior of a person as the basis for a crime, it must form the likelihood of negative consequences. That is, the husband is not to blame for the fact that the wife drowned at the resort, even if he acquired her ticket to the sea. The connecting link in this chain is absent, because the actions of a caring spouse did not pose a danger to the victim.

Examples of a causal relationship where the person’s inaction in the trial was the starting point are considered controversial. The fact is that inaction of citizens does not create a situation, but allows what happens to happen.

In any case, this moment is very important in the investigation and is established through forensics and other things, to bring the right charge. This is especially true when there is a fatal outcome. The investigation finds out exactly how it is possible to qualify the actions of the perpetrator: intentional killing, exceeding the necessary defense, causing death by negligence. Each option has its own measure of restraint, grounds and refers to a separate paragraph of the law.