Continuous Crime in Theory and Case-Law

Determining whether a criminal offence is continuous is not only a topic of interest to the doctrine. It is also of great importance to case-law. Whether such a criminal offence is completed is a critical question in relation to a continuous criminal offence. Only the latter distinguishes between two types of completion: formal and substantive. The precise definition of the moment of completion has several significant practical implications and it is also especially important to delimitate between an attempt and a completed criminal offence; it is important for estimating the possibility of voluntary resignation; it dictates the moment until when it is possible for participants to join the perpetrator; it also answers the question until when a defence against such a criminal offence is possible and when the period of the limitation of criminal prosecution starts. Misclassifying a continuous crime as an instantaneous criminal offence (and vice versa) can have very absurd consequences, such as not recognising a kidnapped victim as being entitled to a defence. Despite the fact that much has been written about a continuous criminal offence, both in domestic and foreign professional literature, the use of this institute poses difficulties in case- law, and partly in doctrine, too.

Keywords: substantivecriminallaw, continuouscriminaloffence, instantaneous criminal offence, substantive and formal completion of a criminal offence.