Against Accomplice Liability
Every year, thousands of people are convicted of crimes they didn’t commit. Yet this is no miscarriage of justice: by the mechanism of accomplice liability, defendants can be convicted of crimes committed by others – even if they don’t satisfy the elements of the crime themselves – so long as they knowlingly assisted or encouraged the perpetrator. In this talk, I will argue that the mechanism of accomplice liability should be abandoned. Instead, defendants should be indicted on the basis of their individual contributions to causings of harm – the larger the contribution, the more severe the crime – regardless of whether those contributions acted via the actions of another person.
Date:
16 February 2017, 17:15
Venue:
St Hilda's College, Cowley Place OX4 1DY
Venue Details:
Lady Brodie Room
Speakers:
Speaker to be announced
Organising department:
St Hilda's College
Organiser:
St Hilda's College
Organiser contact email address:
manuel.dries@philosophy.ox.ac.uk
Part of:
St Hilda's Philosophy Symposium
Topics:
Booking required?:
Not required
Booking email:
manuel.dries@philosophy.ox.ac.uk
Cost:
Free
Audience:
Members of the University only
Editor:
Claire Harvey
