NCJ Number
131467
Journal
Revista Boliviana de Ciencias Penales Volume: 4 Issue: 6 Dated: (August-October 1988) Pages: 75-92
Date Published
1988
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This article defines crime as a typical, anti-juridical, and guilty action. Referring to Hanz Welzel's theory of action which is an otologic concept, the article demonstrates that the structure of human actions is directly based on the observations made by modern psychologists on the behavior of psychic acts.
Abstract
The human action, on the other hand, is the exercise of a final activity which implies awareness, while a causal occurrence does not. The article further distinguishes among violent crimes in which the will to act creates a socially undesirable situation, culpable crimes which call for punishment only because an undesirable result has occurred, and crimes of omission. Finalism establishes the final concept of an action as the basis for a crime's structure. Human behavior belongs to a category which is entirely distinct from any other causal process and is an exercise of final activity; humans are capable of controlling actions to achieve a goal according to a plan. The concept of carelessness or the careless execution of a final act implies that a breach of rules dictated by care cannot be considered equivalent to a final action. Carelessness was not caused by the fact that the act was performed in a careless fashion, but by the fact that it was performed at all. The author suggests that this theory should be taught in law schools in Bolivia and should be included in the country's legal doctrine. 13 notes