Abstract

CANETE PRETT, César A. Actio Libera in Causa in Paraguay in the light of the german penal dogmatic: a decision between criminal policy and the legality principle. Rev. Fac. Der. [online]. 2016, n.40, pp.97-117. ISSN 0797-8316.

The Paraguayan Criminal Code prescribes culpability as a necessary condition for the imposition of a sanction/punishment. Likewise, in its art. 23, it establishes that, whoever at the moment of the commission of a crime or offense, by cause of a grave perturbation to its consciousness, is not aware of the anti-juridical nature of its acts, shall be deemed irreproachable, and henceforth shall be free from the imposition of a sanction. Given that said norm does not contemplate an exemption, this allows the perpetrator to escape the ius puniendi, when he/she purposefully provokes the state of irreproachability to perpetrate the planned act. This is the problem which the actio libera in causa seeks to provide an answer for. The application of the said theory is however neither anchored in the Paraguayan doctrine or case law. Under this considerations, the present article seeks to contribute to this discussion by carrying out a legal analysis of the application of the action libera in causa in the light of the theories discussed in the German criminal law scholarship, looking to shed light on the potential legal consequences that the application or rejection of the action libera in causa would have considering the current state of the Paraguayan criminal laws/Paraguayan criminal legal system.

Keywords : actio libera in causa; culpability; principle of legality; principle of simultaneity; criminal attempt; perpetration by means.

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