# Criminal legal doctrines and principles list

Abatement ab initio - Latin for "from the beginning", the death of a defendant appealing a criminal conviction stops all criminal proceedings initiated against that defendant

Beyond reasonable doubt - aka "moral certainty" a legal standard of proof commonly used in criminal court that indicates there must be irrefutable proof to validate a conviction, contrast to balance of probabilities

Crimen trahit personam - Latin for "the crime carries the person", aka "inter-territorial jurisdiction", a series of crimes across jurisdictions carry broader penalties

Due process - there are procedural rules and principles established by the state that honors the law of the land while also protecting the individual from the state

Fruit of the poisonous tree - evidence ("fruit") obtained by illegal means ("poisonous tree") is inadmissible in a court as evidence

- Inevitable discovery - an exception to exclusionary rule and fruit of the poisonous tree: admission of illegal evidence is still permissible if it would have "inevitably" have been obtained regardless of the legality

Hub-and-spoke conspiracy (criminal and antitrust law) - several parties ("spokes") can enter into an unlawful agreement with a leading party ("hub")

Jus necessitatis - Latin for "just necessity", aka "doctrine of necessity", a charged defendant should not be held responsible if they were performing a crime that prevented greater harm

Legality principle - no one can be convicted of a crime without a previously published legal text that clearly describes the crime

Negotiorum gestio - someone who acts on behalf of another's interests (the "gestor") without that person's permission is entitled to reimbursement, but not remuneration

Nulla poena sine lege - Latin for "no punishment without law", someone cannot be punished for something that isn't prohibited by law

- Nulla poena sine lege praevia - Latin for "no punishment without previous law", meaning ex post facto laws are prohibited
- Nulla poena sine lege scripta - Latin for "no punishment without written law", meaning the laws must be written and not merely spoken
- Nulla poena sine lege certa - Latin for "no punishment without well-defined law", meaning the punishable conduct and penalty must be clarified with sufficient definiteness
- Nulla poena sine lege stricta - Latin for "no punishment without exact law", meaning application by analogy is prohibited

Presumption of guilt - the defendant is guilty when both the evidence is uncertain and they possess the burden of proof, prioritizes speed and efficiency over reliability and can be a violation of human rights

Presumption of innocence - the defendant is innocent when the evidence is uncertain and the plaintiff possesses the burden of proof, tends to favor human rights but can be *much* slower proceedings

Prosecutorial discretion - public prosecutors have a wide latitude to decide whether to charge a person for a crime and which charges to file

Totality principle - after sentencing has been counted but before delivering it, measure it by adding it all together to make sure it's fair and accurate

Transferred intent - aka "transferred mens rea" or "transferred malice", if someone intentionally tries to harm someone else, but harms a third person, they're still responsible

Typicality (criminal law) - aka "prohibition of analogy", criminal law only applies to real events that actually relate to the abstract case, without having to use an analogy

Year and a day rule (criminal law) - a crime is counted as a felony if the sentencing is at least a year and a day

## USA

Brady disclosure - the prosecution is required to disclose any information or evidence that's material to the guilt, innocence, or punishment of a defendant

Castle doctrine - a person has protections and immunities that permit them to use force to defend their legally occupied place from intrusion

Dangerous proximity doctrine - preparing and attempting a crime don't form a clear standard, so preparatory acts are considered stronger evidence of action if the offense is more probable and more grave or serious, mixes with physical proximity doctrine

Double jeopardy - an accused person cannot be charged again on the same (or similar) charges following an acquittal or conviction, similar to res judicata and non bis in idem

Duty to retreat - aka "requirement of safe retreat", a threatened person cannot harm another in self-defense when it's possible instead to retreat to a place of safety, in contrast with stand-your-ground law, often dovetails with castle doctrine

Exclusionary rule - evidence collected or analyzed in violation of a defendant's constitutional rights can't be used in a court of law, validates the 4th Amendment

- Good-faith exception - an exception to exclusionary rule: evidence can be admitted if it's collected in violation of an individual's constitutional rights *but* the police officer believed their actions were legal
- Independent source doctrine - an exception to exclusionary rule: evidence initially discovered during or in the course of an unlawful search can still be lawful if it was later obtained independently by lawful activities later
- Mosaic theory - for assessing 4th Amendment violations (i.e., [privacy violations](faang.md)), a government bureau's information collection is treated as an aggregate "mosaic" rather than on an individual per-agency or per-investigator basis
- Open-fields doctrine - a search without a warrant of the area outside a property owner's dwelling and immediate area doesn't constitute a violation of the 4th Amendment
- Plain view doctrine - an exception to exclusionary rule: an officer is permitted to seize evidence and contraband found in plain view during a lawful observation
- Third-party doctrine - people who voluntarily provide information to third parties (e.g., banks, phone companies, email servers, internet service providers, social media companies) have no reasonable expectation of privacy of that information, so governments don't need a warrant to obtain it

Fleeing felon rule - it's lawful to use force (including deadly force) against an individual suspected of a felony and clearly fleeing

Massiah doctrine - A confession obtained without a defendant's right to counsel (i.e., elicited by the police directly from them) is inadmissible in a court, holds up the 6th Amendment

Physical proximity doctrine - preparing and attempting a crime don't form a clear standard, so preparatory acts are considered stronger evidence of action if the preparatory act is physically closer to the completed crime, mixes with dangerous proximity doctrine

Stand-your-ground law - aka "line in the sand" or "no duty to retreat" law, people may use deadly force when they reasonably believe it necessary to defend against certain violent crimes, in contrast with duty to retreat

## Germany

Nuremburg principles - there are guidelines to define a war crime:

1. Any person who commits a crime under international law is responsible for it.
2. Even if internal law does not impose a penalty for a crime under international law, the person is still held responsible for that violation.
3. Being in an official government capacity does not relieve them from responsibility under international law.
4. A person acting on behalf of a superior or their government does relieve them of responsibility under international law.
5. Anyone charged with a crime under international law is entitled to a fair trial on the facts and law.
6. There are several crimes punishable under international law:
   - Crimes against peace - planning, preparing, initiating or waging a war of aggression or in violation of international treaties, agreements, or assurances, or simply participating in a common plan or conspiracy for it
   - War crimes - includes murder, ill-treatment, or deportation to slave labor in occupied territory, mistreatment of prisoners of war, killing hostages, plundering public or private property, heavily destroying cities and other community locations, and devastating anything not justified by military necessity
   - Crimes against humanity - murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, persecutions on political/racial/religious grounds
7. Complicity with any of the crimes stated above is still violating international law.

## Philippines

María Clara doctrine - aka "Woman's Honor doctrine", women, especially Filipinas, would not admit they had been abused unless that abuse actually happened