Please note that since this book was last published in 1997 some of the laws that have been referenced may have changed. We
are doing our best to update the articles, however, it is advisable that you to consult an attorney before relying on any information contained herein.
Someone who assists another to commit a crime either before or
during its execution, but whose conduct does not constitute the
crime itself, is known as a socius
criminis, an accessory before the fact or accomplice to a
crime. The term 'accessory', however, is more often used to
describe somebody who knowingly assists a perpetrator after the
crime has been committed. That person is then an accessory after the fact.
The accomplice will not be liable in the same way as the
active perpetrator, but will be punished, nevertheless, for
participating in the crime. However, when the extent of the
participation is so great that it satisfies all the elements of
the crime, the accomplice will be guilty of the crime itself - by
becoming a co-perpetrator.
An accomplice who engages someone to commit the crime, will be
as liable as the actual perpetrator. For example, if a man hires
an assassin to kill his wife or her lover, he will be treated as
a co-perpetrator with the assassin.
Actual participation or assistance in a crime must have
occurred for a person to be treated as an accomplice; there must
be some act on his or her part. If A lends a gun to B, knowing
that B is going to rob a bank, A will be regarded as an
accomplice.
An accomplice must know or suspect that a crime is to be
committed. A bank official leaving a bank vault open, not
suspecting theft, will not be regarded as an accomplice of a
thief who steals money from the vault. Even if a person gives
poison to another man so that he may poison his wife, but that
man then uses it to kill his wife's lover, the supplier would not
be liable as an accomplice to murder unless he foresaw that the
lover might be poisoned. A person becomes an accomplice only by
assisting in a crime committed by someone else. In some instances
it will be impossible for an accomplice to commit the crime
charged. For example, a woman who assists a man to rape another woman cannot be
convicted of the crime of rape but may be found guilty as an
accomplice. Opening an
