Error of law is a subjective cause of criminal irresponsibility. This is provided for in Article 122-3 of the Criminal Code: "A person who justifies having believed, through an error of law that he was unable to avoid, that he could legitimately carry out the act is not criminally liable". It should be noted from the outset that an error of law does not call into question the presumption of knowledge of the law that we mentioned in the introduction. A fortiori, the principle of legality of offences and penalties reinforces this presumption of knowledge since the person subject to trial is required to be aware of the law in order not to commit incriminated acts. We cannot therefore argue that we do not know the law in order to avoid our criminal responsibility. It is not because we have not read the article on theft or murder that an error of law will absolve the offender. An error of law is almost a "case of major ignorance". It concerns the existence, interpretation or scope of the rule of law. Case law is therefore excluded from this rule. The error also only concerns intentional offences: unintentional offences, such as involuntary manslaughter, remain likely to result in the criminal liability of their perpetrator. However, two conditions are necessary to support the error: first, there must be an insurmountable, inevitable error. That is to say, the litigant could only be led to make an error! This is the case in particular when a competent authority has made an error by issuing false information. For example, when a driver who has had his French driving licence revoked has been issued with a certificate from a police officer assuring him that he could drive with his international licence (Court of Cassation, Criminal Division, 11 May 2006, 05-87.099). However, this only applies to errors caused by public authorities: erroneous opinions by legal professionals are excluded (Cass. crim. 7 Jan. 2004 No. 03-82.337). Thus, there is no point in hiding behind the dubious advice of your lawyer who told you how to commit murder or tax fraud completely legally. There is also no point in hiding behind the company's lawyer who told you that, yes, making your employees work 18 hours straight and locking them in the premises was in accordance with the Labor Code. The second condition is that of the mistaken belief in the right to act. The perpetrator must have been certain, at the time of the facts, that he had complied with the law. The perpetrator must believe that he was not in violation. The error must be excusable, in particular because the author has made inquiries (Cass. crim., 13 May 2003, no. 02-84.028). If the author has the slightest doubt about the legality of what he is doing, the error of law must fall. Definition of #erroroflaw in #criminallaw in the #legaldictionary in video from ABCJuris ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ OTHER VIDEOS ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ► CRIMINAL LAW • CRIMINAL LAW ???? ► AUTHOR AND ACCOMPLICE in criminal law ???? • AUTHOR AND ACCOMPLICE in criminal law ???? ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ CHAPTERS ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 00:00 Introduction 00:46 Definition 03:57 Summary 04:47 Conclusion ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ABOUT THIS VIDEO ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Legal dictionary in video #LegalDictionaryinvideo Fanny Cornette Law • ERROR OF LAW in criminal law ???? WARNING: Legal dictionary in video regularly shares links to products and services used by the team and that we find useful. We use affiliate links when possible. If you click on one of the links to make a purchase we may receive a small commission.