Abstract: The in-depth development of network technology has led to a barbaric growthin the crime of telecommunication network fraud. Expedited by the black and gray industry, helping behavior is playing a prominent role in the entire criminal ecosystem.Causation has the significance of serving as the backbone of the fixation of liability of help offenders. Since the causal relationship in separate offenses is facing difficulties in the application of psychological causality and the identification of neutral helping behavior, it is still necessary to return to the discussion of the nature of the accomplice and the origin of the basis of criminal penalty. Under this requirement, the result-promotion theory of the principal offender has relative theoretical and practical advantages. Based on this theory, the identification path of the causal relationship of accomplice is formed from the objective and subjective perspectives: objectively, helping behavior must be able to promote the realization of the results of constitutive requirements; subjectively, the helper must be “fully aware” of the principal behavior and its possible criminal results. 

Key Words: telecom network fraud crime, help offenders, causality of criminal law, the result-promotion theory of the principal offender, subjective awareness 

Authors: Liu Renwen, research fellow and head of the Criminal Law Department, CASS Institute of law; Professor and doctoral supervisor, University of CASS; Lei Da, doctoral candidate, Law School of University of CASS. 

Source: 3 (2023) Journal of CUPL.