Minority, Insanity, and the Like as Factors Impeding or Excusing Criminal Responsibility

Although discussing factorslikeminority as impeding or excusing factors of criminal responsibility does not have any tangible and objective results, it has a role in believing in realization of criminal responsibility of the perpetrator and then elimination of his punishment, or lack of realization of criminal responsibility and consequently refusing to punish him. Elements such as reason, maturity, intention, and free will are either the constituents of mental element or the constituents of criminal capacity. If these elements are considered as the constituents of mental element, the latter as one of three elements necessary for realization of crime would not be completed without them. So there is no crime and there is no responsibility. If mental element is defined as mere intention in intentional crimes and criminal fault in unintentional crimes, the previous elements should be discussed as elements of criminal capacity the realization of which considered as one of the concomitants of creation of criminal responsibility. However it is noteworthy that criminal responsibility is established when there exits criminal act next to criminal capacity while specific causes (including justifying causes of crime and factors impeding criminal responsibility) are absent.