Complicity from the perspective of the moment of consummation of the criminal offence

Abstract

As also anticipated by the title, the present study aims to analyze the concept of complicity seen from the perspective of the moment of consummation of the criminal offence. To be more precise, the purpose will be to find the last moment when an action or inaction of a person who aids the author in the commission of a criminal act can be considered an act of complicity, and beyond which it becomes an independent criminal offence.

For the analysis of the proposed problem, we will take into consideration, during the analysis, an important classification transposed from the foreign legal literature, respectively that of the formal and material consummation of the crime. The paper will also discuss the compatibility of the aforementioned classification with the Romanian criminal legal system. Finally, the focus of the final part of the paper will be on several specific hypotheses of distinguishing a potential act of criminal participation from the independent criminal offence provided in Article 204 of the Romanian Criminal Code on impeding aid.