Svenja Schwartz, LL.M. (UNICRI/University for Peace)

Can a person be blamed for turning a blind eye to the circumstances of his or her conduct? From a criminal law perspective, the concept of “willful ignorance” (“willful blindness” or “conscious avoidance”) exists – in varying forms and terms – in different jurisdictions. It usually involves individuals deliberately ignoring or avoiding in­for­mation that should normally have been obvious… more

In German law, mistakes of fact have the effect of excluding intent (Sec. 16 I German Criminal Code, StGB). Thus, if a perpetrator was unaware of a relevant factual circumstance – regardless of whether or not the lack of aware­ness was their own fault – intent cannot be established. This can be unsatisfactory from a criminal policy per­spec­tive. In contrast, in the Anglo-American world… more