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Legal Conspiracy

Legal Conspiracy Civil Law Conspiracy

In civil law, a conspiracy is the creation and operation of an agreement or preconceived plan between two parties (or more) to perform an illegal act that is made with the intention to deprive or damage a third party. 

Often the elements of a civil conspiracy include:

• A concerted action

• Involvement of two or more parties

• Purpose of action is to accomplish a unlawful purpose or a lawful one by unlawful or criminal means

• Damage to the plaintiff

In a civil conspiracy, it is not enough to allege a conspiracy to consider it actionable, thus having these elements makes a conspiracy case much more salient. The conspiracy action is for the damages that come out of any acts that are committed pursuant to the conspiracy in question. If a party receives an allegation of civil conspiracy, that allegation must be paired with a substantial theory of liability. Together they can sustain a cause of action.

While a cause of action is poorly defined for civil conspiracy in many different court decisions, there are some good reasons to please a civil conspiracy assuming there is factual support. 

• An action for conspiracy may allow a party to sue another party who would not otherwise be considered liable.

• In a civil conspiracy claim, a plaintiff may show evidence of acts by a co-conspirator that may not be named a defendant in order which can be used against a defendant. 

• Having an action considered a conspiracy makes the matter seem more ominous. For example, a conspiracy to fraud can sound much worse than regular fraud.

Criminal Law Conspiracy

In criminal law, a conspiracy is the creation and agreement between two or more parties to take part in criminal activity in the future. While the actions taken in advance may not be considered a crime independently, the intent to break the law can be reason enough to be charged with conspiracy as well as the crime that was conspired.A persona or even a business can generally be convicted of criminal conspiracy if:

• A concerted action

• Involvement of two or more parties

• The actions were done with the purpose of promoting or facilitating conduct that is considered a crime, or a solicitation of a crime

• The actions were done to help another plan, commit, or attempt to solicit a crime

For criminal conspiracy, it is necessary to prove the agreement. Since the agreement is the basis for the conspiracy, it is often inferred based off of the cases facts. The agreement does not necessarily have to be verbal, written, or even explicit, but it allows the parties to reach an understanding and to work for a common goal.

Many statutes concerning criminal law also require at least one or more of the parties involved to actually commit the overt action in order to maintain the conspiracy.

It can be advantageous to charge a party with criminal conspiracy because doing may prevent the planned crime from happening. It may also help charge multiple defendants at once while presenting evidence against the parties.

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