승계적 공범에 대한 고찰

A Critical Review of Successional Accomplices

The term “successional accomplices” refers to an accomplice participating in a crime after initiation by the principal. Successional accomplices include successional co-principals and successional accessories. The two key issues surrounding successional accomplices are the establishment of participators as successional accomplices, and their scope of criminal liability. Post participators as successional accomplices can be said to have succeeded the results of elements of crime initiated by the principal since they were aware of and participated in part of the act committed by the principal. They should be held liable only for areas of results of the elements of crime that they have a casual effect on. In this case, post participators assume responsibility as successional co-principals or accessories for occurrences after participation depending on whether there was functional criminal act control with the principal. Meanwhile, the specific scope of criminal liability of post participators should be reviewed from the perspective of divisibility of crime. Where post participators have participated in an indivisible crime, they must assume responsibility for the entire crime. This principle should apply not only to cases in which elements are undefined for acts involving post participators, but also cases where special laws different from general elements have been established. This can be seen as legislators having expressed their view that independent meaning is not achieved when separated from the whole. Here, post participators should be acknowledged only as accessories regardless of their form of participation.