Aiding and Abetting: Criminal Liability for Assisting a Crime

Aiding and Abetting: Criminal Liability for Assisting a Crime

Criminal law does not impose responsibility only on the person who physically commits a crime. A person who deliberately helps another person commit a crime may also be held criminally responsible.

This principle is known as aiding and abetting.

A person who drives a getaway car, supplies a weapon, provides information about a victim, acts as a lookout, or deliberately encourages another person to commit a crime may face criminal liability even if that person never personally performs the criminal act.

The basic idea is simple:

You do not necessarily have to commit the crime yourself to be criminally responsible for helping someone else commit it.

Cornell’s Legal Information Institute defines aiding and abetting as assisting or encouraging another person to commit a crime, generally making the aider and abettor criminally liable to the same extent as the person who commits the underlying offense. Cornell Legal Information Institute — Aid and Abet

But aiding and abetting is not simply a rule that says “anyone who helped is guilty.” Criminal law requires a meaningful connection between the defendant, the assistance provided, and the criminal purpose.

The distinction is particularly important because ordinary conduct can sometimes make a crime easier without making the person who performed that conduct an accomplice.

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1. What Does Aiding and Abetting Mean?

To aid means to assist.

To abet generally means to encourage, support, facilitate, or promote the commission of a crime.

The concepts are often grouped together because criminal responsibility can arise from either physical assistance or intentional encouragement.

For example:

• A gives B a weapon knowing B intends to commit a robbery.
• A drives B to the location of the robbery and waits to provide an escape.
• A acts as a lookout while B enters a store.
• A provides information about when the victim will be alone.
• A encourages B to carry out the planned crime.
• A intentionally disables an alarm so that B can commit the crime.

In each situation, A may have contributed to the commission of the offense without personally carrying out its central physical act.

Federal law expressly provides that a person who aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces, or procures the commission of a federal offense may be punished as a principal. The leading modern Supreme Court discussion is Rosemond v. United States. Cornell Legal Information Institute — Rosemond v. United States

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2. Aiding and Abetting Is a Form of Accomplice Liability

Aiding and abetting is best understood as one form of accomplice liability.

An accomplice is someone who participates in another person’s crime by intentionally assisting or encouraging its commission.

This produces an important distinction:

Principal

The principal is the person who commits the substantive offense.

Accomplice

The accomplice intentionally assists or encourages the principal.

The accomplice may nevertheless be punished as a principal under the applicable statute.

Thus, the labels describe different roles in the criminal conduct, but the law may impose comparable criminal responsibility.

The central principle is that criminal responsibility can extend beyond the person who performs the final physical act.

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3. The Basic Elements of Aiding and Abetting

Although precise requirements vary by jurisdiction and offense, aiding-and-abetting liability generally requires several components.

The prosecution ordinarily must establish:

1. A crime was committed or attempted as required by the applicable law.
2. The defendant performed an affirmative act of assistance or encouragement.
3. The defendant knew of the criminal purpose or the circumstances required by the offense.
4. The defendant intended to facilitate or encourage the commission of the crime.
5. The defendant’s conduct actually assisted, encouraged, or facilitated the criminal venture where the jurisdiction requires such a showing.

These requirements are important because they prevent ordinary association with criminals from automatically becoming criminal participation.

The Supreme Court’s formulation in Rosemond emphasizes two central requirements under federal aiding-and-abetting law: an affirmative act in furtherance of the offense and an intent to facilitate its commission. Cornell Legal Information Institute — Rosemond v. United States

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4. The Affirmative Act Requirement

One of the most important limitations on aiding-and-abetting liability is that the defendant generally must do something to assist the crime.

The conduct can take many forms.

It may involve:

• physical assistance;
• transportation;
• supplying equipment;
• providing information;
• acting as a lookout;
• communicating with the victim;
• disabling security;
• opening access;
• providing encouragement;
• directing the principal;
• helping conceal the criminal operation before or during the offense.

The assistance does not necessarily have to be dramatic.

A relatively small contribution may be sufficient if it intentionally facilitates the crime.

In Rosemond, the Supreme Court explained that a defendant need not participate in every element of an offense. Assistance directed toward one part of a compound offense can be sufficient, provided the required intent exists with respect to the offense as a whole. Cornell Legal Information Institute — Rosemond v. United States

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5. Physical Assistance Is Not Required

Aiding and abetting is not limited to physical acts.

Words can constitute assistance.

Encouragement can constitute assistance.

Instructions or information can constitute assistance.

For example, imagine that B intends to rob a store. A tells B exactly when the security guard leaves the building and encourages B to proceed.

A may not touch the money, enter the store, or threaten anyone.

Nevertheless, A’s conduct may constitute aiding and abetting if the prosecution can establish the required knowledge and intent.

The law therefore recognizes that crimes can be facilitated through information and encouragement as well as physical acts.

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6. Mere Presence Is Usually Not Enough

One of the most important distinctions in accomplice law is the difference between presence and participation.

Suppose A happens to be standing outside a store while B commits a robbery.

A knows that B is committing the robbery.

But A does nothing to assist B.

Mere presence generally does not automatically make A an accomplice.

The prosecution must ordinarily establish something more: an intentional contribution to the criminal venture.

Presence can nevertheless become powerful evidence when combined with other circumstances.

For example, A:

• stands outside specifically to watch for police;
• communicates warnings to B;
• carries the getaway vehicle’s keys;
• blocks another person’s access;
• encourages B to continue;
• has previously helped plan the robbery.

In that situation, presence is not simply passive presence. It may be evidence of active participation.

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7. Knowledge and Intent Are Distinct

A particularly important part of aiding-and-abetting law is distinguishing knowledge from intent.

A person may know that another person is committing a crime without intending to assist it.

For example:

A discovers that B is planning a robbery but does nothing to help B.

Knowledge alone does not necessarily establish accomplice liability.

Now change the facts:

A learns that B is planning a robbery and gives B the alarm code specifically so B can enter the building.

The second situation contains both knowledge and intentional assistance.

This distinction reflects a broader principle of criminal law:

Criminal responsibility ordinarily requires more than awareness that wrongdoing is occurring.

The defendant’s mental state must satisfy the requirements of the particular offense.

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8. Intent to Facilitate the Crime

The defendant generally must intend to help bring about the criminal conduct.

This does not necessarily mean that the defendant personally desires every consequence of the crime.

Rather, the defendant must intentionally participate in the criminal venture in a manner that seeks to facilitate its success.

The Supreme Court has described this requirement as participation in the criminal venture as something the defendant wishes to bring about and an effort to make the venture succeed. Cornell Legal Information Institute — Rosemond v. United States

This requirement prevents an important category of unfair convictions.

Consider a shopkeeper who sells a normal household item to a customer.

The customer later uses the item in a crime.

The shopkeeper’s ordinary sale does not automatically make the shopkeeper an accomplice.

The prosecution would need to establish the necessary connection between the seller’s conduct and the criminal purpose.

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9. The Difference Between Assistance and Incidental Help

Modern aiding-and-abetting doctrine also recognizes a distinction between intentional assistance and assistance that happens incidentally.

Suppose a criminal uses a commercially available product to commit a crime.

The manufacturer did not design the product for that crime, did not know the particular criminal plan, and did not intentionally assist the criminal.

The fact that the product made the crime possible or easier does not ordinarily transform the manufacturer into an accomplice.

The Supreme Court has emphasized that routine activity that happens incidentally to assist criminal conduct is generally insufficient for aiding-and-abetting liability. Cornell Legal Information Institute — Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos

This principle is particularly important in cases involving:

• manufacturers;
• retailers;
• banks;
• internet platforms;
• telecommunications companies;
• transportation services;
• landlords;
• professional service providers.

Ordinary commercial activity does not automatically become criminal participation simply because someone misuses a service.

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10. Aiding and Abetting Can Occur Before or During the Crime

Assistance can occur before the substantive offense is completed.

For example:

A provides B with the keys to a building knowing that B plans to burglarize it.

A’s assistance occurs before the burglary.

A may still be an accomplice.

Likewise:

A stands outside during the burglary and communicates warnings about approaching police.

That assistance occurs during the crime.

Both forms of participation can potentially establish accomplice liability.

The timing matters, however, because the defendant must satisfy the applicable mental-state and participation requirements at the relevant time.

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11. Advance Knowledge Can Matter

The Supreme Court’s decision in Rosemond illustrates the importance of timing when determining whether an accomplice intended to facilitate a particular offense.

The case involved a drug transaction and a firearm offense. The Court held that when the charged offense includes the use of a firearm, the accomplice must have the necessary knowledge of the firearm in advance—at a point when the defendant had a meaningful opportunity to withdraw from the criminal venture. Cornell Legal Information Institute — Rosemond v. United States

The principle is broader than firearms.

It illustrates a fundamental question:

When did the defendant acquire the knowledge necessary to make the criminal choice?

If a person learns about an additional criminal feature only after completing the assistance, the prosecution may face a much more difficult question concerning whether the defendant intentionally facilitated that additional offense.

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12. The Accomplice Does Not Have to Perform Every Element of the Crime

A common misunderstanding is that an accomplice must personally contribute to every element of the substantive offense.

That is generally not required.

Imagine a robbery involving:

1. taking property;
2. from another person;
3. through force or intimidation.

A may provide the getaway vehicle.

B may enter the store and take the property.

C may threaten the victim.

A does not necessarily have to personally perform the taking, use force, or possess the property.

If A intentionally participates in and facilitates the robbery with the required mental state, A may be held responsible as an accomplice.

The Supreme Court expressly recognized this principle in Rosemond. Cornell Legal Information Institute — Rosemond v. United States

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13. Aiding and Abetting and Different Crimes

A difficult question arises when the principal commits a crime that goes beyond what the accomplice intended to facilitate.

Suppose:

A agrees to help B commit a simple assault. During the assault, B unexpectedly produces a firearm and kills the victim.

Can A automatically be held responsible for the homicide?

The answer is not simply “yes.”

The analysis depends on the jurisdiction, the governing statute, the mental state required for the homicide, and doctrines concerning derivative responsibility for additional crimes.

The prosecution must establish the necessary mental state and legal connection to the offense charged.

A person should not automatically become responsible for every criminal act another participant happens to commit.

This is one of the central limits of accomplice liability.

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14. Aiding and Abetting vs. Conspiracy

Aiding and abetting and conspiracy are related but distinct doctrines.

Conspiracy

Conspiracy generally focuses on an agreement to commit a crime.

Aiding and abetting

Aiding and abetting focuses on assistance or encouragement toward the commission of a crime.

A person can therefore be:

• a conspirator;
• an accomplice;
• both;
• or neither.

For example:

A and B agree to rob a bank.

That agreement may constitute conspiracy where the legal requirements are satisfied.

Later:

A gives B the keys to the getaway car.

That conduct may constitute aiding and abetting.

The two doctrines can overlap, but they ask different legal questions.

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15. Aiding and Abetting vs. Attempt

Attempt focuses on the defendant’s own movement toward committing a crime.

Aiding and abetting focuses on participation in another person’s crime.

For example:

A attempts to rob a bank but is arrested before completing the crime.

That is an attempt question.

But:

A provides B with the equipment necessary to commit the robbery and intentionally helps B carry it out.

That is primarily an accomplice-liability question.

The doctrines can also intersect in complex cases, particularly where the substantive crime is never completed.

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16. Aiding and Abetting vs. Solicitation

Solicitation generally involves asking, encouraging, commanding, or otherwise seeking to persuade another person to commit a crime.

Aiding and abetting, by contrast, generally requires assistance or encouragement connected to the commission of the offense.

Consider:

A asks B to rob a store.

That may constitute solicitation.

Now suppose:

B agrees, and A provides B with the store’s alarm code so B can carry out the robbery.

The second act may constitute aiding and abetting if the required elements are satisfied.

The doctrines can therefore overlap chronologically while remaining conceptually distinct.

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17. Omissions and Aiding and Abetting

An omission presents a more difficult question.

Suppose A watches B commit a crime and does nothing.

Is A automatically an accomplice?

Generally, no.

The law ordinarily distinguishes between:

• actively assisting a crime; and
• simply failing to prevent it.

The distinction becomes especially important where the defendant has no legal duty to intervene.

The Supreme Court has recently emphasized that aiding-and-abetting liability ordinarily concerns affirmative participation rather than mere nonfeasance, absent an independent duty to act. Cornell Legal Information Institute — Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos

Thus, moral disapproval and criminal liability are not the same thing.

A person may behave badly by failing to help without necessarily becoming a criminal accomplice.

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18. When an Omission Can Become Participation

The analysis changes when the defendant has a legal duty to act.

Imagine that A has a legally recognized duty to protect a vulnerable person.

A deliberately refuses to act, knowing that B is committing the offense, and A’s failure is itself part of the criminal facilitation.

Depending on the governing law, that omission may potentially contribute to criminal responsibility.

The key question becomes:

Did the defendant have a legal duty to act, and did the failure to act intentionally facilitate the offense?

This prevents the law from treating every failure to intervene as aiding and abetting while still allowing liability where an omission is legally significant.

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19. Aiding and Abetting in White-Collar Crime

Aiding and abetting is particularly important in white-collar criminal law.

Criminal enterprises often involve numerous participants performing different functions.

For example:

• an executive authorizes fraudulent transactions;
• an accountant falsifies financial records;
• an employee creates false invoices;
• a manager directs employees to conceal evidence;
• a third party knowingly provides fraudulent documentation.

The person who physically enters the false information may not be the only person criminally responsible.

A person who deliberately facilitates the scheme may also face accomplice liability.

This is one reason why complex criminal investigations frequently examine not only who committed the act, but also who enabled it.

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20. Aiding and Abetting in Cybercrime

The same principles apply to modern cybercrime.

Consider a person who:

• knowingly provides stolen credentials;
• creates malware specifically for another person’s criminal operation;
• provides technical assistance knowing its criminal purpose;
• deliberately disables security systems;
• maintains infrastructure specifically to facilitate an identified criminal operation.

The fact that the person never directly accesses the victim’s computer does not necessarily prevent criminal responsibility.

Technology changes the method of assistance, but the underlying legal question remains familiar:

Did the defendant intentionally participate in and facilitate the criminal conduct?

At the same time, ordinary technology providers should not automatically become accomplices merely because their products or services are misused.

The distinction between intentional facilitation and incidental assistance remains crucial.

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21. The Importance of Mens Rea

Aiding and abetting demonstrates why mens rea is so important in criminal law.

Consider three people.

Person A

Knows a crime is being planned but does nothing.

Person B

Accidentally provides something that later helps the crime.

Person C

Knows about the crime and deliberately provides the thing specifically to make the crime possible.

Person C presents the strongest case for accomplice liability.

The physical conduct alone does not tell the whole story.

The law must examine:

• what the defendant knew;
• what the defendant intended;
• when the defendant knew it;
• what the defendant did with that knowledge;
• and how the conduct related to the underlying offense.

This is the difference between accidental assistance and criminal participation.

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22. Proving Aiding and Abetting

Because criminal participants rarely announce their intentions explicitly, the prosecution often must prove intent through circumstances.

Evidence may include:

• communications between participants;
• text messages;
• emails;
• financial transactions;
• surveillance footage;
• prior planning;
• coordinated movements;
• possession of specialized equipment;
• statements to other participants;
• conduct before and after the crime;
• concealment efforts;
• division of criminal proceeds.

For example, a person may claim:

“I was only driving.”

But if evidence shows that the person knew about the robbery, transported the participants to the scene, waited for their return, warned them about police, and received part of the proceeds, a jury may view the driving as intentional assistance rather than ordinary transportation.

The legal significance of an act depends heavily on its context.

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23. The Difference Between Knowledge and Participation

This distinction deserves special emphasis.

Imagine three scenarios.

Scenario One: Knowledge

A learns that B intends to commit a burglary.

A does nothing.

Knowledge alone may not establish aiding and abetting.

Scenario Two: Accidental assistance

A rents B a vehicle through an ordinary transaction without knowing what B intends to do.

B uses the vehicle in a burglary.

The assistance is not necessarily criminal participation.

Scenario Three: Intentional assistance

A knows B intends to commit the burglary and deliberately rents B a vehicle so B can use it to escape.

This is a much stronger case for aiding-and-abetting liability.

The difference lies not merely in what happened, but in the defendant’s relationship to what happened.

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24. Withdrawal from Aiding and Abetting

Withdrawal can become important when a person initially participates in a criminal plan but later decides not to continue.

For example:

A agrees to help B commit a robbery, but before the robbery begins, A tells B that A will no longer participate and takes reasonable steps to prevent the planned assistance.

Whether this eliminates liability depends on the jurisdiction and the offense.

Withdrawal generally does not automatically erase criminal conduct that has already occurred.

If A has already provided the weapon, for example, simply changing one’s mind later may not undo the earlier assistance.

The timing of withdrawal is therefore critical.

The principle is similar to the broader distinction between withdrawal and renunciation in inchoate offenses: abandoning criminal conduct after the necessary elements of an offense have already been satisfied does not necessarily erase the completed offense.

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25. Aiding and Abetting Is Not Unlimited

The doctrine has important boundaries.

Criminal law does not impose unlimited derivative responsibility merely because people are associated with one another.

A person is not automatically guilty because:

• a friend committed a crime;
• a family member committed a crime;
• a coworker committed a crime;
• a person was present at the scene;
• a person knew about criminal activity;
• a person provided an ordinary service;
• a person’s property happened to be used by a criminal.

The prosecution must establish the legally required connection between the defendant’s conduct, the criminal venture, and the required mental state.

This limitation protects the principle of individual culpability.

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26. The Deeper Principle: Responsibility for Participation

Aiding-and-abetting law reflects an important idea about criminal responsibility.

Criminal law is concerned not only with who physically acts, but also with who deliberately participates in wrongdoing.

A person standing behind the scenes can sometimes be as morally and legally significant as the person carrying out the final physical act.

Imagine:

A designs the plan, provides the tools, gives the instructions, and coordinates the operation, while B physically commits the offense.

It would be artificial to say that only B is responsible simply because B performed the final act.

The law therefore recognizes participation as a basis for responsibility.

At the same time, the requirement of intentional assistance prevents the doctrine from becoming limitless.

The central balance is:

Participation matters, but association alone is not participation.

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27. A Practical Framework for Analyzing Aiding and Abetting

When analyzing a potential aiding-and-abetting case, ask the following questions.

Question 1: What is the underlying crime?

Identify the substantive offense.

Question 2: Who committed it?

Identify the principal or perpetrator.

Question 3: What did the defendant do?

Identify the specific conduct alleged to constitute assistance or encouragement.

Question 4: Was the conduct affirmative?

Was there an act of assistance, encouragement, facilitation, or support?

Question 5: What did the defendant know?

Determine what the defendant knew about the criminal plan and its circumstances.

Question 6: What did the defendant intend?

Determine whether the defendant intended to facilitate or encourage the crime.

Question 7: When did the defendant acquire the necessary knowledge?

Timing can matter, particularly when the crime contains multiple elements or aggravating circumstances.

Question 8: Did the defendant actually participate in the venture?

Distinguish intentional participation from incidental assistance.

Question 9: Did the defendant withdraw?

If so, determine when and how.

Question 10: What does the applicable statute provide?

State and federal law may differ, and particular offenses may contain specialized accomplice rules.

This framework prevents the analysis from collapsing into the simplistic question:

“Did the defendant help?”

The better question is:

“What did the defendant intentionally do, knowing what criminal purpose that conduct would facilitate?”

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28. Common Misunderstandings

Misunderstanding 1: “Only the person who commits the physical act is guilty.”

False.

A person who intentionally assists the commission of a crime may also be criminally liable.

Misunderstanding 2: “Knowing about a crime makes you an accomplice.”

Not necessarily.

Knowledge and intentional assistance are distinct concepts.

Misunderstanding 3: “You have to be at the crime scene.”

False.

Assistance can occur before the crime and does not necessarily require physical presence.

Misunderstanding 4: “The accomplice must perform every element of the crime.”

Generally false.

An accomplice may be liable even though another person performs the substantive elements.

Misunderstanding 5: “Any assistance is enough.”

False.

Criminal liability generally requires the legally required connection between the assistance and the criminal purpose.

Misunderstanding 6: “Helping after the crime is automatically aiding and abetting.”

Not necessarily.

Post-crime assistance may implicate different offenses, such as accessory-after-the-fact liability, rather than aiding and abetting the completed offense.

Misunderstanding 7: “Withdrawal always eliminates liability.”

False.

Withdrawal generally cannot erase criminal responsibility for conduct that has already completed an offense.

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29. A Simple Example

Suppose A and B plan a burglary.

A obtains information about the building’s security system.

A gives B the information and tells B when the alarm will be disabled.

B enters the building and steals property.

A never enters the building.

A may nevertheless face liability for aiding and abetting the burglary because A intentionally provided assistance designed to make the crime succeed.

Now change the facts.

A works for a security company and routinely maintains the building’s alarm system.

A unknowingly performs ordinary maintenance.

B later exploits the system to commit the burglary.

The result may be completely different.

The difference is not simply whether A’s conduct made the burglary easier.

The critical question is whether A intentionally participated in facilitating the crime with the required mental state.

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30. Aiding and Abetting and the Principle of Individual Culpability

The doctrine ultimately reflects a balance between two competing principles.

The first is:

People should be responsible for criminal participation, not merely physical execution.

The second is:

People should not be criminally punished merely because they are associated with criminals or unknowingly provide incidental assistance.

Aiding-and-abetting law attempts to reconcile these principles through requirements of conduct, knowledge, intent, and participation.

This makes accomplice liability an important illustration of a broader rule in criminal law:

Criminal liability should correspond to the defendant’s own culpable contribution to the offense.

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Key Takeaways

• Aiding and abetting involves intentionally assisting or encouraging another person’s crime.
• It is a form of accomplice liability.
• The defendant generally must perform some affirmative act of assistance or encouragement.
• Physical assistance is not always required; information, words, encouragement, and other forms of facilitation may qualify.
• Mere presence generally is not enough.
• Knowledge alone generally is not enough.
• The defendant ordinarily must have the required intent to facilitate or encourage the crime.
• An accomplice does not necessarily have to perform every element of the underlying offense.
• Assistance may occur before or during the crime.
• Timing can be critical to determining the defendant’s mental state.
• Ordinary commercial or social activity does not automatically become criminal participation merely because it happens to facilitate wrongdoing.
• Aiding and abetting differs from conspiracy, attempt, and solicitation.
• Withdrawal may affect liability, but generally does not erase completed criminal conduct.
• The doctrine is ultimately based on individual culpability for intentional participation.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is aiding and abetting?

Aiding and abetting is a form of accomplice liability in which a person assists, encourages, facilitates, or otherwise intentionally participates in another person’s commission of a crime.

Does an aider and abettor have to be present when the crime occurs?

No. Assistance can occur before the crime, and physical presence is generally unnecessary.

Is knowing about a crime enough to make someone an accomplice?

Generally, no. The prosecution ordinarily must establish the required form of intentional participation in addition to knowledge.

Does an accomplice have to commit the physical act?

No. The principal may perform the physical elements of the crime while the accomplice provides assistance or encouragement.

Can words constitute aiding and abetting?

Yes. Encouragement, instructions, information, or other communications can potentially constitute assistance when accompanied by the required criminal intent.

Is merely being present at a crime scene enough?

Generally, no. Presence becomes more significant when combined with conduct demonstrating intentional assistance or encouragement.

Can someone be an accomplice without being part of a conspiracy?

Yes. Aiding and abetting and conspiracy are separate doctrines with different elements.

Can someone be both a conspirator and an accomplice?

Yes. The same conduct may satisfy the requirements of both doctrines where the applicable law permits it.

What if the principal commits a crime that the accomplice did not intend?

The accomplice’s liability depends on the governing law and the mental state required for the additional offense. Liability is not automatically unlimited simply because the person participated in another crime.

What is the difference between aiding and abetting and accessory after the fact?

Aiding and abetting generally concerns intentional assistance in the commission of the crime. Accessory-after-the-fact liability generally concerns helping a person after the crime has been committed, and it is ordinarily treated as a separate offense.

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Conclusion

Aiding and abetting is one of the clearest examples of how criminal law distinguishes physical execution from legal responsibility.

The person who commits the final physical act is not necessarily the only person responsible. A person who deliberately provides the assistance, encouragement, information, resources, or support necessary to make the crime succeed may also be held criminally liable.

But the doctrine has an equally important limitation.

Criminal responsibility does not arise simply because someone knew a crime was occurring, happened to be present, provided an ordinary service, or was associated with the perpetrator. The law generally requires intentional participation that connects the defendant’s own conduct to the criminal objective.

The fundamental question is therefore not simply:

Who committed the crime?

It is also:

Who intentionally helped make the crime happen?

That question lies at the heart of accomplice liability and explains why aiding and abetting remains an essential doctrine in both traditional and modern criminal law.