[luke warm]

in the usa we have a law against 'conspiracy to commit murder'... does such a law exist in denmark and, if so, why expel the plotters and not charge them?

link

[helene_t]

No, Denmark does not have such a law. It was debated some years ago whether they should have such a law, when a criminal organization (Blekingegadebanden) gave the DA headache by refusing to tell who has done what, while it would probably be a lot easier to prove that the group as a whole was responsible for the crime (in this case the killing of a policeman).

[luke warm]

from all reports it's a handy law to have... a person guilty of conspiracy is guilty of all crimes committed by all involved in the conspiracy, regardless of who did what

[mike777]

luke warm, on Feb 12 2008, 12:50 PM, said:

from all reports it's a handy law to have... a person guilty of conspiracy is guilty of all crimes committed by all involved in the conspiracy, regardless of who did what

I strongly disagree. It really helps keep the crime rate down if you stop making so much stuff illegal. If it is not a crime, your rate goes down.


Why in the world make conspiracy to murder someone, anyone a crime?

[Winstonm]

Quote

PET, the police intelligence service, called the action "preventive," saying it decided to strike "at an early phase to stop the planning and the carrying out of the murder."

According to this statement, it is doubtful a conviction could have been obtained if this had ocurred in the U.S.

[luke warm]

mike777, on Feb 12 2008, 03:30 PM, said:

luke warm, on Feb 12 2008, 12:50 PM, said:

from all reports it's a handy law to have... a person guilty of conspiracy is guilty of all crimes committed by all involved in the conspiracy, regardless of who did what

I strongly disagree. It really helps keep the crime rate down if you stop making so much stuff illegal. If it is not a crime, your rate goes down.


Why in the world make conspiracy to murder someone, anyone a crime?

you disagree with what, that it's a handy law? i agree that the fewer laws you have, the fewer laws are broken, lowering the crime rate

[Winstonm]

Quote

Last Tuesday in Denmark, however, a jury of the Østre Landsret ruled that not only the man who pulled the trigger was guilty, but every family member who collaborated in “punishing” Ghazala Khan, an 18-year old Danish-born woman of Pakistani origin, who was shot by her brother, 30-year old Akhtar Abbas, on 23 September 2005, two days after her marriage.

Seems Denmark does have conspiracy laws.

[helene_t]

Tx, Winston. Just found a detailed account on this case (in Danish): http://www.information.dk/126021
Nine persons were given jail sentences between 8 years and life.

"Hvis nogle etablerer et komplot med det formål at begå en forbrydelse, kan hele flokken dømmes" (If someone (pl) establish a conspiracy with the purpose of committing a crime, the entire group can be convicted").

As I understand it, this is different from the US law, though. The Danish law is rarely applied because it must be proved that the purpose of the conspiracy was to commit that particular crime.

[finally17]

helene_t, on Feb 13 2008, 05:06 AM, said:

As I understand it, this is different from the US law, though. The Danish law is rarely applied because it must be proved that the purpose of the conspiracy was to commit that particular crime.

It's my understanding that in US law (which is sort of a misnomer in itself with respect to this discussion, most criminal law is not Federal and varies from state to state, and IANAL), most (all?) states have laws which make a party liable for any ill effects of a crime if they are culpable in any part of the crime. Hire a guy to rob an old lady, her fear causes a heart attack (I'm not even sure the State needs to present expert testimony that the attack was in fact fear induced), and it's my understanding that that's a murder charge for all parties, employee and employer.

[Winstonm]

Helene,

It may simply be that conspiracy is not the easiest of crimes to prosecute. Even here in the U.S. the states differ in laws:

Quote

There is a great deal of controversy where this is concerned, especially from people who oppose the idea of prosecuting individuals for their private thoughts. Different states have different laws concerning the prosecution of conspiracy suspects, but all U.S. states have a provision in the law for conspiracy.

In most states, an individual cannot be prosecuted for conspiracy unless at least one of the people involves as taken an overt action toward carrying the plan out. For example, if two people talk about robbing a bank, but never do anything to move the plan forward, neither can be charged with conspiracy. If, however, one of the partners obtains a bank floor plan for the institution they plan to rob, both can be charged for conspiracy to commit robbery.

Another example of conspiracy involves two or more people who develop a “hit list”. This would be charged as conspiracy to commit murder, even if the individuals involved didn’t take it seriously. It is extremely important for the public to know that anything they put in writing can be used against them. Just as you cannot be prosecuted for your private thoughts, you also cannot be found innocent because of them. If you write something down – such as a hit list – you run the risk of being taken seriously by the government.