Of Legal Accountability

In particular, the Accountability Act states that a person is legally responsible for the unlawful conduct of another person if, “before or during the commission of an offence and with intent to promote or facilitate the commission of that offence, he or she requests, assists, assists, consents or attempts to assist that other person in planning or committing the offence: to help them plan or commit the crime” (720 ILCS 5/5-2). In cases where the Liability Act has been challenged, Illinois courts have ruled that evidence may be presented to prove that a defendant intended to promote or facilitate the crime, that (1) the defendant shared the criminal intent of the person who actually committed the crime, or (2) there was a “criminal plan” or common plan. The second holding company is known as the “common design rule”. The 1961 Criminal Code (“Criminal Code”), like the Criminal Code, removed references to the common law, including the common understanding rule (John F. Decker and Christopher Kopacz). In fact, the article of the Criminal Code dealing with liability is practically repeated word for word from the Penal Code, according to which a person must intentionally assist another person in committing a crime in order for that person to be held criminally responsible. As such, he sought to eliminate the rule of common design. We will support UN programmes that strengthen countries` rule of law systems, including through legal reforms and support to justice and security policies and institutions, and ensure that they are enshrined in human rights standards. We will contribute to the development of policies and guidelines for human rights and justice mechanisms established by UN intergovernmental bodies to collect, analyse and obtain evidence for use in judicial proceedings. We will assist the Office of Counter-Terrorism in integrating human rights, including a gender perspective, into its policies and programmes. We will strengthen partnerships and develop practical guidelines for human rights and drug policies. We will strengthen UN accountability mechanisms, including mechanisms and processes to prevent and address violations committed by or attributed to employees.

In these three scenarios, Jack could be charged with one or more crimes under the Accountability Act even if he (1) did not possess or fired a firearm, (2) may not have known that Jill had a gun, (3) was not present, (4) did not know that a crime was going to happen, and/or (5) was a minor while Jill was an adult. Jack could be accused and convicted as if he had committed these crimes himself. The court uses six factors to determine whether one person is responsible for another person`s illegal acts. These factors are: (1) presence during the commission of the crime (unless the person attempted to leave or prevent the crime), (2) acting as a guard station, (3) fleeing the crime scene after the crime, (4) continuing to contact the lead actor after the offence, (5) failing to report the incident, and (6) accepting the illegal proceeds of crime. The law of responsibility allows a person to be convicted of crimes committed by another person, even if the other person has not been charged or acquitted or convicted only of a lesser crime (720 ILCS 5/5-3). We will continue to work with our partners to strengthen the rule of law and accountability for human rights violations in the context of law enforcement and justice systems, and we will pay increased attention to violations that have traditionally been ignored, such as violations related to economic, social and cultural rights and gender-based crimes. We will go beyond traditional judicial accountability and seek to create conditions in which people can meaningfully shape or challenge political decisions that affect their lives to ensure accountability and good governance. We will work within the United Nations system to ensure that its obligations to ensure accountability and strengthen the rule of law are adequately coordinated and supported. We will support the strengthening of independent judicial authorities and oversight mechanisms, as well as legal aid and witness protection programmes; training of judicial institutions and administrative authorities; promote the establishment of individual grievance mechanisms in national human rights institutions; and promoting ratification of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. We will support civil society and independent oversight bodies in obtaining justice in economic, social and cultural rights cases. Young offenders are more likely to behave in groups (or “co-offenders”) and are more subject to peer pressure.

They are therefore disproportionately affected by the law of liability. The U.S. Supreme Court has concluded that children are immature and have an underdeveloped sense of responsibility that makes them more reckless, impulsive and prone to risk than adults, and that they are also more vulnerable to rehabilitation. But when convicted under a theory of responsibility, children are often labeled “violent offenders” for life and face the same range of sentences as the person who actually committed the violent crime. This applies even if they have not caused any damage or committed acts of violence. Young people convicted of murder under the Accountability Act are generally sentenced to life imprisonment, de facto life imprisonment or other extreme sentences. Nevertheless, since the passage of the Criminal Code in 1961, legal opinions have been reinstated and incorporated the common design rule into the Illinois Accountability Act. “The [Illinois Supreme Court] completely ignored both legal language and legislative history, declaring that liability status was the intention to incorporate the principle of the common design rule,” Heyman wrote in a 2013 newspaper article.