Legal Literacy - In the world of criminal law, the question of the causal relationship between actions and consequences is always a major focus. This article discusses the doctrine of Causality in Criminal Law. Causality, or known as causation, is a fundamental concept that explains the relationship between two events. In the context of criminal law, causality examines whether a person's actions (cause) trigger a specific consequence.

Understanding Causality

Causality, causation, or cause and effect is a concept that explains the relationship between two events, where one event (cause) triggers another event (effect).

In simple terms, causality can be understood as the principle that every event has a cause and effect.

Understanding Causality in Criminal Law

Causality in criminal law is the doctrine of the causal relationship between a person's actions and the consequences that arise. This doctrine is very important to determine whether a person can be held criminally responsible for an act or not.

In short, causality answers the question:

  • Did a person's actions cause a specific consequence?
  • How far can a person's actions be linked to the consequences that occur?

Example:

  • A person (A) stabs the victim (B) with a knife. B then dies. In this case, A can be held criminally responsible for B's death because A's actions (stabbing) are the direct cause of B's death.

Causality Doctrine Regulations

Explicitly, the Criminal Code does not contain specific rules about causality.

However, this concept is implied in several articles of the Criminal Code, such as:

  • Article 359 Criminal Code: Persecution
  • Article 360 of the Criminal Code: Severe Persecution
  • Article 338 of the Criminal Code: Murder
  • Article 187 of the Criminal Code: Arson

These articles use phrases such as "resulting in", "causing", and "giving rise to" which indicate a causal relationship between the act and the consequence.

Theory in the Doctrine of Causality of Criminal Law

The Doctrine of Causality is necessary to determine the existence of an objective relationship between human actions and prohibited consequences. Therefore, this theory is very important for material criminal acts, and criminal acts that are qualified by their consequences. This is because in material criminal acts there is a constitutive element of consequence, which relates to what is the cause of the consequences that have been determined in the legislation and which party is responsible for the criminal act.

Post Hoc NonPropter hoc, that is, an event that occurs after another event is not necessarily a result of the preceding event.

To answer these challenges, 3 (three) theories have generally developed, namely:

  1. Theory conditio sine quanon/theory equvalen.
  2. Theory adequat (general)
  3. Theory of individualization

Conditio sine qua non Theory

According to Von Buri, a cause is any condition that cannot be eliminated for an effect to arise, because each of these conditions is a cause, all conditions have the same value. So if even one condition is absent, the result will be different. This theory has a weakness because the causal relationship will stretch backward without limit/end. However, according to Van Hamel, this theory is the only theory that can be defended, it just needs to be supplemented with the theory of error.

Adequate Theory

According to Von Kris, a cause of an event (criminal act) is a condition that generally, according to the normal course of events, can lead to a certain consequence or event. This theory is based on facts before the event. This adequate theory developed, which subsequently gave rise to two schools of thought within the theory, namely subjective and objective theories. Subjective theory determines that the cause is what the perpetrator knows or imagines can cause an effect (the criterion is the perpetrator's knowledge). Meanwhile, objective theory sees the cause as human behavior which, according to experience, is generally reasonable if the act causes an effect.

Individualization Theory

According to Birk Meyer, from a series of conditions that cannot be eliminated for an effect to arise, the cause is the condition that in certain circumstances is the most dominant in causing the effect. Karl Binding said that the condition is the most decisive cause. In positive conditions to exceed negative conditions.

Thus the discussion regarding the doctrine of causality in criminal law. In principle, the doctrine of causality is a concept that explains the relationship between two events, where one event (cause) triggers another event (effect). In criminal law, this doctrine is useful for showing the cause-and-effect relationship between a person's actions and the consequences they cause. This doctrine is very important to determine whether a person can be held criminally responsible for an act or not.

Hope it is useful!