The Characteristics of the Perpetrator of Illicit Gains in the Iraqi and Algerian Penal Systems

Abstract

Through laws related to combating public office crimes, the Iraqi and Algerian criminal legislators sought to establish legal foundations to support measures aimed at preventing and reducing public office corruption crimes by strengthening the requirements of integrity. Corruption poses a threat to the stability and security of societies and undermines economic institutions, their financial systems, and their political structures. Corruption negatively impacts justice, equality, and the rule of law, leading to a shake-up of public confidence. Among the most serious crimes is the crime of illicit gain, in which the presumed element is distinguished, along with other public office crimes, by the status of the perpetrator. This distinguishes the specificity of public office crimes, in which the perpetrator is characterized by criminalization and punishment. The status of the perpetrator is represented by his public office. Despite the difference between administrative and criminal jurisprudence in defining the employee, the Iraqi penal system adopted a comprehensive definition when it stipulated that a person charged with public service is an employee, worker, or worker who is entrusted with a task in the service of the government, its official and semi-official departments, and agencies affiliated with it or placed under its supervision, as well as anyone who performs a public service, whether paid or unpaid. This is what the legislators adopted. The Algerian Penal Code has expanded the scope of the characterization of public office crimes, including the crime of illicit gain, which must be present in the perpetrator for the crime to be committed. If the perpetrator is not what the law stipulates, then we are faced with another classification of the crime, so it is called the presumed element, which is one of the basic elements for the crime to be committed. Therefore, it is necessary to define what is meant by an employee, a person charged with a public service, or a person charged according to the law.