Sequence of events

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In criminology, the course of events (or act ) is the course of a criminal offense in the context of the offense stage .

General

The course of events is the external, observable course of the act in contrast to the motive and decision to act, which usually remain hidden . That is why there are usually witnesses or traces for the phase of the crime . Witnesses observed the course of events in whole or in part mostly by chance, and the perpetrators left traces at the scene of their crime . It must always be reconstructed (subsequently determined) by the law enforcement authorities , for example on the basis of witness statements, confessions , the modus operandi or on the basis of the traces . The course of events serves as evidence of the perpetrator as well as evidence of the crime .

The course of events includes the offense fulfilling the criminal offense , which consists of an act or omission by the perpetrator, accomplice or participant . The victim does not immediately notice this act in the case of every criminal offense , because, for example, in the case of pickpocketing it consists in the removal - initially unnoticed by the victim - in the case of embezzlement in the appropriation or in the case of fraud in the deception of the victim. The criminal law deals with the criminal act while the forensics examined the crime.

Preparatory actions

Impunity permanent preparatory acts are behaviors of the offender that should first create the conditions for the subsequent Tatverwirklichung. This includes the planning of the crime scene , the time of the crime , the course of the crime and the procurement of the means of the crime (including the weapon ). Criminology assumes that the worthlessness of an act increases the more carefully the perpetrator has prepared it. These preparatory actions influence the course of events.

Modus operandi

In criminology, the modus operandi describes the behavior of an offender, in particular the type of offense, whereby the “ViCLAS” system ( Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System ) has been registering typical perpetrator behavior internationally since 2000 .

Legal issues

Only through the act contained in the course of events is the criminal offense fulfilled. Who, for example, a foreign chattel another in the intention of taking away the thing itself or a third party illegally appropriating ( § 242 para. 1 of the Criminal Code ), satisfies the offense of theft . The act of offense consists in the removal, in the case of embezzlement in accordance with Section 246 (1) StGB in the illegal appropriation or in the case of fraud ( Section 263 (1) StGB) in the act of deception. The perpetrator acts directly on things or people at the scene of the crime. He commits dangerous bodily harm by bringing poison or other harmful substances ( Section 224 (1) No. 1 StGB) that can lead to the death of the victim. In the case of omission offenses, the offender's act is that he did not act, but must have had an opportunity to act. Case in point is the failure to render assistance of § 323c para. 1 of the Criminal Code, when someone in accidents , common danger or emergency not provide assistance, although it was required and expected of the circumstances.

Other areas of law also punish illegal acts. Thus, the offense punishable under Section 106 (1) UrhG is the unauthorized public reproduction of works protected by copyright .

Forensic science

From a forensic point of view , the security attack is first carried out, followed by the evaluation attack. For example, in a bank robbery , the bank robber leaves a car, puts on his mask, enters the bank, pulls a gun and goes to the counter. There he requests the surrender of 10,000 euros, accepts the cash, puts it in his bag, leaves the building and gets into the escape vehicle. The security attack then consists, among other things, of cordoning off the crime scene to bystanders and starting a search for the escape vehicle. The evaluation attack , on the other hand, includes the questioning of witnesses, the securing of video recordings from a surveillance camera and other evidence .

Criminal proceedings

The criminal case is dealt with before the criminal court as part of a court hearing . The basis is the indictment , which must precisely describe the course of events, the time and place of the crime ( Section 200 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure ). The most comprehensive knowledge of the course of events is the perpetrator's knowledge , which the law enforcement authorities can only fully understand through a confession . The course of events to be determined on the basis of the evidence and evidence available is subject to judicial assessment of evidence . With certainty about the course of events it is for the judge as part of subsumption the criminal , the resulting therefrom offense of this appropriate sanction norm to submit, as the Court knows the law ( Latin Jura novit curia ). A case is cleared up when the course of events and the perpetrator are unequivocally determined through circumstantial evidence, witness statements or a confession by the perpetrator. The result is the criminal judgment , in which the course of events is detailed.

International

Criminology makes use of the findings of logic , physics , technology , chemistry or biology , so that internationally the same conditions also apply to the course of events.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Walter Gropp, General Part of Criminal Law , 2001, p. 135
  2. Harro Otto, Basic Course in Criminal Law - General Criminal Law , 2004, p. 249
  3. Kurt Schmoller , Considerations on the redefinition of the murder feature "insidious" , in: ZStW 99, 1987, p. 412 ff.
  4. Hans-Dieter Schwind, Kriminologie und Kriminalpolitik, 2016, p. 14
  5. Helmut König (ed.), The Schwerte case in context , 1998, p. 140