On The Nature And Existing Forms Of One-sided Accomplice

The nature and existing forms of one-sided accomplice have always been the focus of theoretical argument.Through the analysis of two cases in this paper, I find that scholars have no argument towards the view that unsuspecting perpetrator only criminal responsibility of their own behavior and does not constitute a joint crime. However, the behavior which is similar to B and Gu’s in the cases (unilateral deliberately collaborator) whether belongs to one-sided accomplice and what kinds existing forms of one-sided accomplice have been debated in Chinese and foreign theory criminal law. For this kind of one-sided accomplice should be regulated by criminal law to be criminal behavior. We not only lack of sufficient theoretical support to punish the behavior, but also there is no specific legal provisions to punish one-sided accomplice in the application of law.The paper consists four parts:The first part will introduce the condition of the two cases and summarize the disputing focus. In the first case, party B involves the typical partial joint crime, in the second case, Gu’s behavior involves non-action one-sided accomplice. The issues of the two cases lead to the controversial problem of one-sided accomplice in criminal law.In the second part, while carding the existing theories of the nature of the one-sided accomplice, the other theories—Separate crime theory, Indirect principal theory and Accessory theory which are put forward by scholars to solve the problem of the one-sided accomplice are analyzed. I suppose that one-sided accomplice accords with the nature of joint crime, it should be included in the categories of joint crime.The existing forms of one-sided accomplice are discussed in the third part. The existing forms of one-sided accomplice don’t include one-sided organizer and one-instigator. There are three forms of one-sided accomplice which are the unilateral joint offence, one-sided helping criminal and non-action one-sided accomplice, I will prove these views in this part..Based on the domestic and international legislation and judicial penalties on one-sided accomplice, the existing forms of one-sided accomplice are discussed in the fourth part. I think that the best way to properly solve one-sided accomplice should be regard as a special form of joint crime. Finally, I will return to the cases, and determine the nature of the behavior relevant to parties in the cases with the conclusion analyzed above, in order to reach the purpose to deal with practical problems.