3.7. Substantive Law: Defining Crimes, Inchoate Liability, 
Accomplice Liability, and Defenses 
LORE RUTZ-BURRI 
Substantive Law 
Substantive law includes laws that define crime, meaning laws that tell us what elements the government 
needs to prove in order to establish that this crime has been committed. Substantive law also includes the 
definitions of inchoate crimes (incomplete crimes) of conspiracies, solicitations, and attempts. Substantive 
law also sets forth accomplice liability (when a person will be held responsible when they work in concert 
with others to complete a crime). Substantive law also identifies the defenses that a person may raise when 
they are charged with a crime. Finally, substantive law indicates the appropriate penalties and sentences for 
crimes. Today, the great majority of substantive law has been codified and is found in the state’s particular 
criminal code or in the federal code. Generally, criminal codes are separated into two parts: a general part 
and a special part. The general part typically defines words and phrases that will be used throughout the 
code (for example, the word intentionally), indicates all possible defenses and provides the general scheme 
of punishments. The special part of the code typically defines each specific crime setting forth the elements 
of the crime (components of the crime) the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt in order to 
convict a defendant of a crime. 
Elements of the crime 
With the exception of strict liability crimes and vicarious liability crime (discussed below), the government 
will always have to prove that the defendant committed some criminal act, the actus reus 
actus reus element and that he 
or she acted with criminal intent, the mens rea
mens rea  element. When proving a crime of conduct, the state must 
prove that the defendant’s conduct met the specific actus reus  requirement. The government must prove that 
the defendant’s behavior was either a voluntary act (meaning not the product of a reflex or done while asleep, 
or under hypnosis), a voluntary omission to act (meaning that he or she failed to act) when there was a legal 
duty to do so, or that he or she possessed some item that should not have been possessed. To meet the mens 
rea element, the state must prove that the defendant’s act was triggered by criminal intent. The elements of 
a specific crimes may also include what is referred to as attendant circumstances. Attendant circumstances 
are additional facts set out in the substantive law’s definition that the state must prove to establish a crime, for 
example, that the place burglarized be a dwelling, or that the property value is a at least a certain amount. 
When proving a crime of causation, the state must also prove that the defendant caused specific, listed 
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