102
They also embrace common law jurisdictions such as England and Wales, 287 Canada, 288 the
United States, 289 Australia 290 and Zambia. 291
offence, whether by aiding or abetting, is party to it. Furthermore, any person who offers gifts, makes
promises, gives orders or abuses his position of authority or power to instigate a criminal act or gives
instructions for its commission is equally party to it.” (unofficial translation)).
In addition to responsibility for crimes committed by more persons, the Court of Cassation has envisaged
criminal responsibility for acts committed by an accomplice going beyond the criminal plan. In this
connection the Court has distinguished between crimes bearing no relationship to the crime envisaged (e.g. a
person hands a gun to an accomplice in the context of a hold-up, but the accomplice uses the gun to kill one of
his relatives), and crimes where the conduct bears some relationship to the planned crime (e.g. theft is carried
out in the form of robbery). In the former category of cases French case law does not hold the person
concerned responsible, while in the latter it does, under certain conditions (as held in a judgement of 31
December 1947, Bulletin des arrêts criminels de la Cour de Cassation 1947, no. 270, the accomplice “devait
prévoir toutes les qualifications dont le fait était susceptible, toutes les circonstances dont il pouvait être
accompagné” (”should expect to be charged on all counts that the law allows for and all consequences that
might result from the crime” (unofficial translation)). See also the decision of 19 June 1984, Bulletin, ibid.,
1984, no. 231.
286
The principles of common purpose are delineated, in substance, in the following provisions of the Codice
Penale:
“Article 110: Pena per coloro che concorrono nel reato.- Quando più persone concorrono nel
medesimo reato, ciascuna di esse soggiace alla pena per questo stabilità, salve le disposizioni degli
articoli seguenti.” (“Penalties for those who take part in a crime.- Where multiple persons participate
in the same crime, each of them is liable to the penalty established for that crime, subject to the
provisions of the following Articles.” (unofficial translation)); and
“Article 116: Reato diverso da quello voluto da taluno dei concorrenti.- Qualora il reato commesso sia
diverso da quello voluto da taluno dei concorrenti, anche questi ne risponde, se l’evento e conseguenza
della sua azione od omissione.” (“Crimes other than that intended by some of the participants.- Where
the crime committed is different from that intended by one of the participants, he too shall answer for
that crime if the event is a consequence of his act or omission.” (unofficial translation)).
It should be noted that Italian courts have increasingly interpreted Article 116 as providing for criminal
responsibility in cases of foreseeability. See in particular the judgement of the Constitutional Court of 13 May
1965, no. 42, Archivio Penale 1965, part II, pp. 430 ff. In some cases courts require so-called abstract
foreseeability (prevedibilità astratta) (see e.g., instance, Court of Cassation, 3 March 1978, Cassazione
penale, 1980, pp. 45 ff; Court of Cassation, 4 March 1988, Cassazione penale, 1990, pp. 35 ff); others require
concrete (or specific) foreseeability (prevedibilità concreta) (see e.g., Court of Cassation, 11 October 1985,
Rivista penale, 1986, p. 421; and Court of Cassation, 18 February 1998, Rivista penale, 1988, p. 1200).
287
See R. v. Hyde ?1991g 1 QB 134; R. v. Anderson; R. v. Morris [1966] 2 QB 110, in which Lord Parker CJ
held that “where two persons embark on a joint enterprise, each is liable for the acts done in pursuance of that
joint enterprise, than that includes liability for unusual consequences if they arise from the execution of the
agreed joint enterprise”. However, liability for such unusual consequences is limited to those offences that the
accused foresaw that the principal might commit as a possible incident of the common unlawful enterprise,
and further, the accused, with such foresight, must have continued to participate in the enterprise (see Hui ChiMing v. R. [1992] 3 All ER 897 at 910-911).
288
Criminal Code, Section 21(2) reads that where:
“two or more persons form an intention to carry out an unlawful purpose and to assist each other
therein and any one of them, in carrying out the common purpose, commits an offence, each one of
them who knew or ought to have known that the commission of the offence would be a probable
consequence of carrying out the common purpose is a party to that offence.”
It should be noted that despite the fact that the section refers to an objective foreseeability requirement, this
has been modified by the Supreme Court of Canada which held that: “[i]n those instances where the principal
is held to a mens rea standard of subjective foresight, the party cannot constitutionally be convicted for the
same crime on the basis of an objective foreseeability standard” (R. v. Logan [1990] 2 SCR 731 at 735).
Hence, a subjective standard is applied in the case of offences such as murder. See also R. v. Rodney [1990] 2
SCR 687.
Case No.: -94-1-A
15 July 1999