The influence of motive and purpose on criminal guilt
Influenta mobilului si a scopului asupra vinovătiei penale

Summary/Abstract: The study draws attention to two components of the subjective aspect of the criminal offence: the motive and the criminal purpose. After introductory aspects on modern theories of guilt, the study presents the way guilt is regulated in the Romanian penal law, still tributary to the psychological theory. According to art. 19 of the Penal Code, “Guilt exists when the act that presents social danger is carried out with intention or culpa”. Direct intention is present when the author anticipates the result of his deed, aiming its occurrence, whereas indirect intention exists when the author anticipates the result of his act and, without aiming for it, accepts the possibility of its occurrence. The offence is committed in culpa with forethought when the culprit anticipates the result of his deed, but does not accept it, in the groundless belief that it will not happen; culpa without forethought exists when the author does not foresee the result of his act, although he should have and could have. Alongside these forms of guilt expressly stipulated in the penal legislation, the doctrine and jurisprudence unanimously admit the existence of another one- praeterintention- having a complex structure, it consists of an initial direct intention, overlapped by a culpa with or without forethought in relation to a graver final result. Analyzing the motive of the crime, it is defined as the psychic impulse that determines a person to take action, the internal cause of the willful act. To avoid confusion between motive and guilt, the study presents criteria of delineation: guilt corresponds to the will of committing the material act described by the incrimination norm, whereas the motive is precisely the rationale causing the act to be wanted and to occur (1), guilt is specific to each offence, while the motive is specific to each individual (2); and guilt must be established for all crimes, whereas motive must only be identified when a text of incrimination expressly requests it (3). Depending on how the motive of the crime relates with the incrimination text, the analysis highlights the following hypotheses: the situation of the general motive (in which, although present, the motive of a crime is not explicitly requested by the incrimination norm), the special motive (when motive appears as a prerequisite of the content of a crime - e.g. art. 247 Penal Code “abuse in service by restricting rights (…) on the grounds of nationality, race, sex or religion”), the motive as an aggravating special circumstance (e.g. murder committed because of material benefits - art. 175 para. 1 b of the Penal Code), and the motive as an exonerating cause (e.g. provoking illegal abortion, if the fetus is over 14 weeks, but the abortion was called for because of therapeutical reasons- art. 185 para. 6 letter b Penal Code). The section dedicated to the criminal motive ends with a presentation of the practical importance of the distinction between the four hy

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