The Judiciarys Law Journal

The Judiciarys Law Journal

Determining the Status of Contingent Offenses in the Presence of Procedural Obstacles to Examining the Predicate Offense

Document Type : Research/Original/Regular Article

Author
Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Malayer University
10.22106/jlj.2025.2054986.6233
Abstract
In some cases, a criminal judge, in order to adjudicate Offense A and assess the fulfillment of its constitutive elements, is compelled to first determine whether Offense B has been committed. This necessity arises because the legislature, in defining Offense A and enumerating the components of its material element, has required the complete realization of another offense. Therefore, unless the full commission of Offense B—with all its constituent elements—is proven, one of the essential components of the material element of Offense A necessarily remains unproven. However, the judge may be unable to examine or establish Offense B due to the presence of a procedural obstacle, such as the statute of limitations, the complainant’s waiver, or the absence of conditions stipulated in Article 102 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Employing a descriptive–analytical methodology and drawing upon library sources, this study reviews the various interpretive and procedural approaches to the problem. It explains the shortcomings of proposed solutions such as the summary determination of Offense B, criminal-on-criminal dependency, suspension of proceedings, and issuance of an order to discontinue prosecution. Ultimately, it argues that issuing a non-prosecution order or an acquittal with respect to Offense A constitutes the most defensible and coherent interpretation consistent with the procedural and substantive principles of criminal law.
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Volume 89, Issue 131
Autumn 2025
Pages 341-365

  • Receive Date 03 March 2025
  • Revise Date 04 June 2025
  • Accept Date 18 November 2025
  • First Publish Date 22 November 2025
  • Publish Date 22 November 2025