Definition and Legal Classification of Overall Intent
The term overall intent is used particularly in criminal law and refers to the comprehensive intent of an offender, which extends to multiple acts within a single natural course of conduct, or to multiple offenses committed in unity of action or separately. Overall intent is, therefore, an important term in connection with the intention structure of German criminal law and is of significant importance at both the offense level and for sentencing.
Systematic Position in Criminal Law
Distinction from Other Forms of Intent
Overall intent contrasts with so-called individual intent, which always refers to a specific individual offense or statutory element. While individual intent occurs within a particular criminal event, overall intent encompasses several intentions formed beforehand, which the perpetrator implements in a single unit of action or unified course of conduct. Here, a distinction must be made between overall intent as a comprehensive course of action and the concurrent occurrence of multiple violations of protected legal interests.
Origin and Requirements
Subjective Requirements
Overall intent requires that the offender, at the time of committing the first offense, already has the will to commit further offenses of the same or similar nature in close temporal and factual connection. What matters is whether the perpetrator’s intent is, from the outset, directed toward multiple violations of legal interests and thus the entirety of planned actions is guided by an overarching plan. The decisive factor is the internal direction of the offender’s will, which often needs to be assessed during investigation and trial through witness statements, circumstantial evidence, or the offender’s own admissions.
Objective Requirements
Objectively, the majority of the offenses must be closely connected in time, place, and substance, such as in serial acts, serial thefts, or continued conduct within a unified life situation. The Federal Court of Justice has, in numerous decisions, based this assessment on an overall consideration of the relevant circumstances.
Distinction from Partial Intent, Offense Plurality and Unity of Offenses
Overall intent must be distinguished in particular from partial intent, plurality of offenses (§ 53 German Criminal Code) and unity of offenses (§ 52 German Criminal Code):
- Overall intent and partial intent: Partial intent refers only to individual parts of an overall criminal plan, but not to the entire undertaking.
- Overall intent and plurality of offenses: Plurality of offenses exists when multiple independent crimes are committed without a unified intent.
- Overall intent and unity of offenses: In unity of offenses, several punishable acts are committed through one act or several acts of the same kind, which can be covered by an overall intent.
Significance in Case Law
In case law, overall intent is especially important in connection with distinguishing between units of action, in assessing a natural unit of action, and in establishing an assessment unit. In sentencing, the established overall intent regularly serves as an indicator for evaluating criminal motivation, criminal energy, and the extent of the violation of legal interests. The Federal Court of Justice requires careful examination as to whether an overall intent truly exists or whether a spontaneous expansion of criminal resolve should instead be assumed.
Dogmatic Classification within the Concept of Intent
Overall intent is a manifestation of intent as regulated in § 15 German Criminal Code. Intent as the will to realize the offense, in the presence of overall intent, imposes special requirements on the knowledge and will that extend to multiple violations of legal interests. The so-called overall intent theory focuses on the internal unity of the criminal acts.
Relevance in the Context of Mistake
Overall intent is also relevant in questions of mistake: A lack of overall intent can, for example, be significant in factual or permissive mistake if the perpetrator neither recognizes nor wishes an extension of the offense to further objects or victims.
Relevance for Sentencing
The assumption of overall intent has far-reaching consequences for sentencing. It can have an aggravating effect, as it indicates an elevated level of criminal energy and increased social dangerousness. At the same time, under §§ 52, 53 German Criminal Code, it can be significant in deciding whether a total sentence is to be formed or whether unity or plurality of offenses is to be assumed. Limiting sentencing to the wrongfulness of the overall offense takes overall intent significantly into account.
Overall Intent in International Comparison
Unlike in German criminal law, the concept of overall intent in this form is not developed in the Anglo-American legal system; comparable evaluations are instead carried out there under the doctrines of “continuing offenses” or “concurrence of actus reus and mens rea.”
Summary and Practical Significance
In criminal law, overall intent refers to an intent formed from the outset directed at multiple violations of legal interests, which plays a central role in the legal assessment of units of action, the determination of the degree of wrongfulness, and in sentencing. The distinction among individual intent, partial intent, and overall intent is essential for correct subsumption and the imposition of total or individual sentences, and requires careful consideration of both the subjective and objective elements of the offense.
References:
- Fischer, Strafgesetzbuch, § 52, para. 1 ff.
- BGHSt 23, 243; BGHSt 37, 1
- Roxin, Criminal Law General Part, Volume 1, 5th Edition, § 12
- Schönke/Schröder, Criminal Code, before § 52, para. 10 ff.
Frequently Asked Questions
What legal requirements must be met for overall intent to exist?
For overall intent to exist, it is required that, when committing several similar offenses, the perpetrator forms a unified will that relates to a plurality of future individual acts. This overarching intent encompasses all acts of the same type that are internally connected. Legally, it is crucial that overall intent connects the individual criminal resolutions temporally and substantially, so that the crime series appears as the execution of a pre-conceived plan. Overall intent must not merely refer to an indefinite number of offenses but must reveal concrete content and scope, which is regularly a matter of evidentiary assessment in court practice.
What is the significance of overall intent for the doctrine of concurrence in criminal law?
Within the framework of the doctrine of concurrence, overall intent plays a central role particularly in distinguishing between unity of offenses and plurality of offenses. If overall intent exists and several crimes are committed on the basis of this overall intent, these are independent, but through a natural unit of action or, in some cases, as continued conduct, interconnected individual acts. This affects the legal assessment, since under certain circumstances a reduction of the penalty according to § 54 German Criminal Code is possible. If overall intent is rejected, the individual offenses are treated under the general rules of plurality of offenses, which may result in a stricter legal assessment.
How does case law determine the point in time at which overall intent is formed?
Case law requires that overall intent must be formed before or at the latest at the time of committing the first individual act. What is decisive is an externally recognizable overall plan that encompasses the commission of multiple offenses. If the intent arises only successively or spontaneously during the commission of the individual acts, overall intent in the legal sense cannot be assumed. The exact determination of the timing is often verified in criminal proceedings based on circumstantial evidence, such as witness statements, planning of means of offense or striking similarities in the modus operandi.
What role does overall intent play in sentencing?
Overall intent can have a mitigating effect, particularly if it serves as a basis for the assumption of continued or natural unit of action. In such cases, courts may impose a total sentence which may be lower than the sum of the individual sentences. In addition, overall intent has an effect on sentencing within the scope of § 46 German Criminal Code because planning, intensity of criminal resolve, and related inhibitions are taken into account. If there is no overall intent, there is a risk of cumulation of sentences, which is more disadvantageous for the accused.
Are there typical types of offenses where overall intent is particularly relevant?
Overall intent is especially relevant in serial or mass offenses, such as in property crimes (e.g., repeated fraud, theft in multiple cases), but also in narcotics offenses and offenses involving false documents. In these areas, it is not uncommon for perpetrators to form an extensive criminal plan comprising the execution of numerous individual acts. Overall intent is also often applied in the criminal assessment of complex series of offenses in capital market and tax offenses.
How is overall intent established and proven during the investigation?
During the investigation, overall intent is reconstructed by the prosecution using all available investigative tools, such as witness interviews, communication surveillance, and securing evidence. Attention is paid to whether there are already indications of an overarching plan prior to the commission of the offenses, for instance in the form of preparatory acts or communicated criminal intentions. The burden of proof lies with the prosecution; it must demonstrate the formation of overall intent with sufficient certainty, as this has significant implications for subsequent legal assessment and sentencing.
What are the differences between overall intent and continued conduct?
Although both concepts show a close connection in the commission of multiple offenses, overall intent differs from continued conduct in that, according to the established case law of the Federal Court of Justice, the latter is now only assumed in certain exceptional cases (such as sexual abuse offenses). Overall intent, on the other hand, is an umbrella term for series of offenses based on an overarching plan, regardless of whether actual continued conduct exists; it affects how the acts are procedurally and substantively covered and assessed. The precise distinction may be decisive in individual cases for the scope and severity of the imposed sentence.
