Legal Literacy - A tort is also defined as a “criminal act,” so when discussing torts, it is the same as discussing types of criminal acts. Furthermore, regarding the types of torts, there are several examples of types of torts that the author describes as follows:

Crimes and Violations

A crime is a deliberate act or an act of omission in violating criminal law, committed not in self-defense and without justification established by the state. Thus, it is explicitly stated that criminal behavior can be subject to sanctions officially established by the state. In the Indonesian Criminal Code, more precisely in the second book of the Criminal Code are criminal acts that are classified as crimes, while the third book of the Criminal Code are criminal acts related to violations.

Division of acts criminal into crimes and violations has several consequences. First, the actions and consequences caused by crimes are more dangerous compared to violations. Second, the consequence of the first has a great influence on the criminal sanctions listed. Of course, the threat of punishment for crimes is more severe than for violations. Third, an attempt to commit a crime, the maximum threat is reduced by one-third, while an attempt to commit a violation is not threatened with punishment.

Formal and Material Torts

Discussing formal and material torts is related to an “act” itself. That in carrying out an act there will be an action and also consequences that will be obtained/occur. To make it easier to understand, a formal tort is a tort that focuses on the action, while a material tort is a tort that focuses on the consequences. An example of a formal tort is found in Article 362 of the Criminal Code concerning theft.

For example, if someone is known to have taken someone else's cellphone, but because the act is known by the owner, then the person does not take the cellphone, then the person still fulfills the element of theft, because the act of theft is formulated formally which focuses more on the action. Meanwhile, an example of a material tort is found in Article 338 of the Criminal Code concerning Murder.

For example, A intentionally intends to kill B by shooting from a distance, then A fires his bullet at B, but it turns out that it hits his hand and B is rushed to the hospital and declared not dead. Because Article 338 is formulated materially which focuses on the consequences, then A cannot be said to have killed B, because his actions did not cause B to die, A is only said to have attempted murder.

Ordinary Torts and Complaint Torts

Ordinary torts and complaint torts are one of the most important torts in the criminal justice process. Most of the Criminal Code are ordinary torts, where to carry out legal proceedings against these cases, a complaint is not needed. In the Criminal Code itself, there are at least three chapters related to complaint torts. First, chapter XVI relates to defamation. There are five acts that are classified as defamation, namely; slander, defamation, minor insult, slanderous accusation, and slanderous accusation. Meanwhile, some examples of ordinary torts are; acts of persecution, murder, theft, and so on.

Intentional Torts and Negligence Torts

Intent (opzet) or dolus and alpa are forms of error in law criminal. The division of crimes into intentional or negligent torts only signifies the form of error in a tort formulation. This has implications for the severity of the threatened punishment. According to Simons, the form of error must be interpreted as intentional. In principle, if a tort formulation mentions the form of error as intentional explicitly, then the public prosecutor must prove the intention. Conversely, if a tort formulation does not explicitly mention the form of error, then with the proof of the elements of the tort, the form of error in the form of intention is considered to have been proven by itself.

References

  • Eddy, O.S. Hiariej, Principles Criminal Law, Cahaya Atma Pustaka, Yogyakarta, 2016.
  • Said Karim, Torts in Codification, Textbook, Pustaka Pena Press, Makassar, 2016.