The Formulation of Voluntary Intoxication in Continental Law

Abstract

The principle of contemporaneity, which means the actus reus and mens rea must coincide, constitutes the backbone of criminal liability. On the contrary, it is sometimes possible for an offender to commit an offence when she or he does not have the culpability required for the committed offence. The offender can create diminished responsibility through the intake of an intoxicating substance negligently or intentionally, even with the purpose of getting rid of the punishment. To punish such an offender, a legal concept has been developed which is termed as voluntary intoxication in the Anglo-Saxon legal system, while it has been called actiones liberae in causa in the Continental Europe. In this review, actiones liberae in causa, the formulation of voluntary intoxication in the Continental European legal system, will be explained in detail and some suggestions will be made for the application of these two concepts.

Keywords: committing offences; criminal liability; culpability; intoxication; punishment.