Complicity and Participation in Crime
Explanation
The Lebanese Penal Code defines the roles of individuals in a crime. The perpetrator of a crime is the one who brings its elements into existence or contributes directly to its execution. The accomplice is punished with the penalty designated for the crime, and the penalty is aggravated for anyone who organizes the participation or directs the actions of the participants.
The instigator is the one who induces or attempts to induce another person, by any means, to commit a crime. The liability of the instigator is considered completely independent of the liability of the person instigated to commit the crime.
An accessory in a felony or misdemeanor is someone who performs specific acts. These acts include giving instructions even if they did not help, strengthening the perpetrator's resolve, or accepting the perpetrator's offer for a specific benefit. They also include assisting the perpetrator in acts that prepared for or facilitated the crime.
Also considered an accessory is anyone who agrees with the perpetrator prior to the crime to conceal its traces, the items resulting from it, or to hide its participants. Intervention also includes providing food or shelter to evildoers while knowing their criminal history of highway robbery or violence.
The penalty for an accessory varies according to the importance of their role. The accessory without whose assistance the crime would not have been committed is punished exactly like the perpetrator. As for the rest of the accessories, their penalties are reduced by specific proportions, such as replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment with hard labor or temporary imprisonment with hard labor from ten to twenty years.
Official legal articles
amend · 1983-11-10: Open the official text
Think deeper
Why did the legislator make the liability of the instigator independent of the liability of the person instigated to commit the crime, and how does this affect the punishment of the instigator if the perpetrator backs out of the execution?
Flashcards
Who is the perpetrator of a crime?
It is the one who brings the elements constituting the crime into existence or contributes directly to its execution.
What happens to the penalty of someone who organized the participation in the crime or directed the actions of the participants?
Their penalty is aggravated according to the general rules determining the effect of aggravating circumstances (Article 257).
Is someone punished if they attempted to instigate a person to commit a crime but did not succeed?
Yes, anyone who induces or attempts to induce another person to commit a crime is considered an instigator.
Is the liability of the instigator linked to the liability of the perpetrator?
No, the liability of the instigator is independent of the liability of the person instigated to commit the crime.
Is someone considered an accessory if they gave instructions to commit the crime and these instructions did not help?
Yes, they are considered an accessory even if these instructions did not help in the act.
What is the condition for considering the concealer of items resulting from a crime as an accessory?
They must have agreed with the perpetrator or one of the accessories prior to the commission of the crime.
What is the penalty for the accessory without whose assistance the crime would not have been committed?
They are punished as if they were the perpetrator themselves.
What is the penalty for an unnecessary accessory if the perpetrator's punishment is the death penalty?
Life imprisonment with hard labor or temporary imprisonment with hard labor from ten to twenty years.
Practice questions
Which of the following acts makes a person a perpetrator of a crime according to the law?
The law stipulates that the perpetrator of a crime is the one who brings its elements into existence or contributes directly to its execution (Article 212).
A person tried to convince his friend to steal a car, but the friend flatly refused. What is the legal characterization of this person's act?
The law considers as an instigator anyone who attempts to induce another person to commit a crime, and their liability is independent (Article 217).
A person assisted the perpetrator in the acts that prepared for the crime. What is their legal capacity?
The law considers as an accessory anyone who assists or aids the perpetrator in the acts that prepared for or facilitated the crime (Article 219).
Samir agreed with the perpetrator after the commission of the crime to hide the stolen items. Is he considered an accessory according to the law?
The law requires that the agreement to conceal must have been made prior to the commission of the crime to consider the person an accessory (Article 219).
What is the penalty for the accessory without whose assistance the crime would not have been committed?
The law explicitly states that the accessory without whose assistance the crime would not have been committed is punished as if they were the perpetrator themselves (Article 220).
Case problems
Kamal asked his neighbor Saeed to forge an official document, and tried to convince him by various means. Saeed refused to do so and informed the police. Kamal argued before the court that he could not be punished because the crime did not occur and Saeed did not perform any act.
Model answer
Kamal's defense is legally invalid.
Anyone who attempts to induce another person by any means to commit a crime is considered an instigator (Article 217).
The liability of the instigator is completely independent of the liability of the person instigated to commit the crime (Article 217).
Therefore, Kamal is punished as an instigator despite Saeed's refusal to commit the crime.
Self-grading rubric
Ziad decided to rob a bank. He asked his friend Tarek to provide him with a special electronic key without which the bank could not be breached, and Tarek did so. He also asked his friend Rami to encourage him and strengthen his resolve, and Rami did so. The robbery was completed. What is the penalty for both Tarek and Rami, given that the perpetrator's penalty is life imprisonment with hard labor?
Model answer
Tarek is an accessory without whose assistance the crime would not have been committed because he provided the key without which the bank could not be breached.
The accessory without whose assistance the crime would not have been committed is punished as if he were the perpetrator himself, meaning life imprisonment with hard labor (Article 220).
As for Rami, he is an accessory because he strengthened the perpetrator's resolve by some means (Article 219).
Since his assistance was not indispensable for committing the crime, and the perpetrator's penalty is life imprisonment with hard labor, Rami is punished with the same penalty from seven to fifteen years (Article 220).
Self-grading rubric
Fadi committed a murder. Two days later, he went to his friend Wissam's house and asked him to hide him from justice. Wissam agreed and hid him. Wissam had no prior knowledge of the crime and had not agreed with Fadi on it. Is Wissam considered an accessory to the crime according to the law?
Model answer
Wissam is not considered an accessory to the crime.
Anyone who conceals a person who participated in the crime is considered an accessory only if they had agreed with the perpetrator or one of the accessories prior to the commission of the crime (Article 219).
Since Wissam had not agreed with Fadi prior to the commission of the crime, the capacity of an accessory defined in the law does not apply to him.