A Critical Reassessment of the Classifications of Impossible Crime: A Comparative Study in Common Law and the Criminal Law of Iran, Iraq, Egypt, and Jordan

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Assistant Professor, Law Department, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Lorestan University, Iran, Khorramabad

10.22091/dclic.2025.13721.1108

Abstract

Impossible crimes remain a complex issue in theory and a troublesome problem in practice in criminal law. In order to refine those impossible crimes that deserve punishment, theorists have proposed criteria for classification, the most common of which are two types: the division into absolute and relative, and the division into legal and factual. The first classification is common in some Arab countries and the second division is widely accepted in the common law. The Iranian legal system also leans towards the second division based on the latest changes in 2013. The important question is which classification has been able to provide a more precise basis for distinguishing the types of impossible crimes in a way that, while making a conceptual distinction, can clarify the practical identification of instances; so that the punishable impossible crime can be determined? This article, using a descriptive and analytical method and adopting a critical approach to the theories, examples and definitions proposed in the common law and some Arab countries, has concluded that judicial experience and inconsistent legal examples have shown that neither of these two approaches has been able to present a clear picture of the impossible "crime". Each of the theories is subject to internal and external confusion and neither has provided a clear theoretical basis for distinction. Until a more precise basis can be reached regarding the substantive division of the impossible crime, perhaps the best solution for criminal response - following some common law authors - is to consider the impossible crime punishable if criminal intent is clearly proven and the actions taken go beyond preliminary acts and indicate objective dangerousness.

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References

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Criminal Law Doctrines of Islamic Countries
Volume 3, Issue 1 - Serial Number 9
Spring 2026
March 2026
Pages 23-51

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