The so-called unitary concept of perpetrator in criminal law

criticism of a dogmatic monster

Abstract

The text undertakes a critical analysis of the so-called unitary concept of perpetrator in Criminal Law. First,
efforts are made to clarify what is meant by the unitary concept of perpetrator, especially in the light of the Austrian
criminal law and the German Administrative Offenses Act, as opposed to the German Penal Code, which adopts a non-
-unitary concept. The conclusion is that the unitary concept of perpetrator represents only a tautological designation
for principal offender and accessory, as a mere vehicle for submitting the accessory to the same legal consequence
imposed on the principal offender. Following, from the discussion of hypothetical cases, the legal consequences of
embracing a unitary concept of perpetrator are demonstrated and criticized. The main ones are the hollowness of the concept of perpetrator and the categorical poverty that makes it impossible to apprehend as different forms of intervention in the crime the different structures of an event that is harmful to a legal interest and in which more than one person participates. At the end, certain manifestations of the unitary conception in German legislation and jurisprudence are critically discussed.