The Subjective Element of Crime: a Comparison between Ecclesiastical, and Belgian Criminal Law Word count: 36,697 Raphael Maesschalck Student number: 01204319 Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Jan Verplaetse Co-supervisor: Prof. Dr. Tom Vander Beken A dissertation submitted to Ghent University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Laws Academic year: 2017 - 2018 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS — DUTCH Een woord van dank gaat uit naar: - Mijn promotor, Prof. dr. Jan Verplaetse, wiens ideeën mij lieten durven denken, voor het interessante onderwerp; - Dr. William Richardson, voor het aanreiken van een literatuurlijst, het beantwoorden van mijn (vele) chaotische vragen en het ter beschikking stellen van verhelderende inzichten tijdens onze gesprekken; - Prof. em. dr. Ruud Huysmans, voor het delen zijn expertise en visie en de tijd die hij daarvoor vrijmaakte; - Mr. Eric De Wilde, voor het mij wegwijs maken in het doolhof van de bijzondere faculteit kerkelijk recht te Leuven en het gebruikelijke kopje koffie; - Mr. Philippe Tobback, niet alleen voor het ter beschikking stellen van een geairconditioneerde werkplaats in de moordende zomerhitte, maar vooral voor alle steun en hulp die mij steeds opnieuw werd aangeboden; - Dr. Nigel Coles, mr. Martin Jones en mr. Nils Van Damme, voor het nalezen dit werk; - Mijn vader, voor de economische en morele steun; - En tenslotte mijn moeder, voor veel meer dan dat wat een louter dankwoord verdient. !2 !3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS — DUTCH____________________________________ 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS______________________________________________ 4 GENERAL INTRODUCTION___________________________________________ 7 CHAPTER I: Introduction to the Legal and Institutional Frameworks____________ 9 1 The Church and Ecclesiastical Criminal Law.................................................................. 9 1.1 The Church as a Spiritual and Governing Institution............................................... 9 1.2 Sources of Ecclesiastical Criminal Law................................................................. 10 1.2.1 The 1917 Code........................................................................................................... 10 1.2.2 The 1983 Code........................................................................................................... 11 1.2.3 The Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus.................................................................... 14 1.3 The Ecclesiastical Criminal Procedure.................................................................. 14 1.4 Scope of Application of Ecclesiastical Criminal Law............................................. 15 2 The Belgian Legal Order and Its Criminal Law............................................................. 16 2.1 The Belgian State as Custodian of the Public Order............................................. 17 2.2 Sources of Belgian Criminal Law.......................................................................... 17 2.2.2 The Belgian Penal Code............................................................................................. 18 2.2.3 The Belgian Code of Criminal Procedure................................................................... 19 2.3 The Belgian Criminal Procedure........................................................................... 19 2.4 Scope of Application of Belgian Criminal Law....................................................... 20 3 Comparison of the Legal Systems................................................................................ 20 CHAPTER II: Crime and Its Elements___________________________________ 22 1 Defining the Concept of Crime...................................................................................... 22 1.1 A Universal Definition of Crime (?)........................................................................ 22 1.2 The Ecclesiastical Definition of Crime................................................................... 23 1.2.1 Preface: Terminological Issues................................................................................... 23 1.2.2 Juridical Definition....................................................................................................... 24 1.2.3 The Objective Element................................................................................................ 25 1.2.4 The Legal Element...................................................................................................... 28 1.2.5 The Subjective Element.............................................................................................. 30 1.3 The Definition of Crime According to Belgian Criminal Law.................................. 31 1.3.1 Juridical Definition....................................................................................................... 31 1.3.1 Different Views among Scholars................................................................................. 32 1.3.2 The Material Element.................................................................................................. 34 1.3.3 The Moral Element...................................................................................................... 35 1.3.4 The Element of Unlawfulness..................................................................................... 37 1.3.5 Punishability as a (Disputed) Fourth Element............................................................. 38 2 Comparison of the Definitions....................................................................................... 38 !4 CHAPTER III: Decomposition of the Subjective Elements___________________ 40 1 Subjective or Moral Element(s)?................................................................................... 40 2 Imputability in Ecclesiastical Criminal Law.................................................................... 40 2.1 Preface: the Distinction between Moral and Juridical-Penal Imputability.............. 40 2.2 On the Concept of Imputability.............................................................................. 41 2.2.1 Imputability in General................................................................................................ 42 2.2.2 Imputability in the Code of Canon Law....................................................................... 43 2.3 The Sources of Juridical-Criminal Imputability...................................................... 45 2.3.1 Dolus........................................................................................................................... 45 2.3.2 Culpa.......................................................................................................................... 47 2.2.4 Punishability for Dolus and Culpa............................................................................... 48 2.4 The Presumption of Imputability............................................................................ 48 3 Criminal Responsibility in Belgian Criminal Law........................................................... 50 3.1 On the Concept of Criminal Responsibility............................................................ 50 3.1.2 Criminal Responsibility in General.............................................................................. 50 3.1.2 Criminal Responsibility in Belgian Criminal Law......................................................... 51 3.1.3 The Notion of Criminal Guilt........................................................................................ 52 3.2 Sources of Criminal Responsibility........................................................................ 53 3.2.1 Intent........................................................................................................................... 53 3.2.2 Inadvertence............................................................................................................... 56 3.2.3 Guilt by Transgression of the Law.............................................................................. 57 3.4 The Presumption of Innocence............................................................................. 58 4 Comparison of the Subjective Elements....................................................................... 60 CHAPTER IV: Causes Affecting the Subjective Element____________________ 62 1 Causes Affecting the Subjective Element of an Ecclesiastical Crime........................... 62 1.1 A Gradual System of Imputability (?)..................................................................... 62 1.2 Causes Affecting Imputability In General.............................................................. 64 1.2 Causes Affecting Imputability In Particular............................................................ 65 1.2.1 Mental Disturbances................................................................................................... 65 1.2.1 Age.............................................................................................................................. 67 2 Causes Affecting the Moral Element of a Crime in Belgian Law................................... 68 2.1 A Binary System of Criminal Responsibility........................................................... 68 2.2 Causes Affecting Criminal Responsibility In General............................................ 68 2.3 Causes Affecting Criminal Responsibility In Particular.......................................... 69 2.3.1 Mental Disturbances..................................................................................................