Literally,
solicitation means: 'urgently asking'. It is the action or instance of soliciting;
petitionA petition is a request to change something, most commonly made to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
;
proposalProposal may refer to:* Proposal * Proposal of marriage* Proposals , a play by Neil Simon* The Proposal , an episode from The O.C. television show...
.
In
England and WalesEngland and Wales is a legal unit within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland, England and Wales follow the legal system known as English law, and the two form the constitutional successor to the...
, the term
soliciting refers to: "for a common prostitute to loiter or solicit in a street or public place for the purpose of
prostitutionIn the United Kingdom, prostitution is legal for the client and prostitute when aged 18 or over. However several related activities are illegal, these include soliciting in a public place, keeping a brothel, pimping, pandering, kerb crawling and outraging public decency...
", under the Street Offences Act 1959.
The description of
Kerb crawlerA kerb crawler is a person who drives round areas known for street prostitution soliciting prostitutes for sex. The act is known as "kerb crawling" because the person will typically drive very slowly along the kerbside....
makes clear that also: 'the addressing or accosting by a potential prostitution customer of a supposed prostitute with the purpose to conclude to a prostitution agreement with her' is entitled 'solicitation' by some.
In the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
,
solicitation is the name of a
crimeCrime is the breach of one or more rules or laws for which some governing authority, via mechanisms such as police power, may ultimately prescribe a conviction...
, an
inchoate offenseAn inchoate offense, inchoate offence, or inchoate crime is the crime of preparing for or seeking to commit another crime. The most common example of an inchoate offense is conspiracy...
that consists of a person offering money or something else of value in order to incite or induce another to commit a crime with the
specific intentIn criminal law, intention is one of the three general classes of mens rea necessary to constitute a conventional as opposed to strict liability crime.-Definitions:...
that the person solicited commit the crime.
In the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the term "solicitation" implies some sort of commercial element,
considerationConsideration is the central concept in the common law of contracts and is required, in most cases, for a contract to be enforceable. Consideration is the price one pays for another's promise. It can take a number of forms: money, property, a promise, the doing of an act, or even refraining from...
, or payment.
In some other
common lawCommon law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals , rather than through legislative statutes or executive action, and to corresponding legal systems that rely on precedential case law....
countries, the situation is different:
- where the substantive offense is not committed, the charges are drawn from incitement
In English criminal law, incitement was an anticipatory common law offence and was the act of persuading, encouraging, instigating, pressuring, or threatening so as to cause another to commit a crime....
, conspiracy, and attemptAttempt crimes are crimes where the defendant's actions have the form of the actual enaction of the crime itself: the actions must go beyond mere preparation....
;
- where the substantive offense is committed, the charges are drawn from conspiracy
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
, counseling and procuring (see accessoriesAn accessory is a person who assists in the commission of a crime, but who does not actually participate in the commission of the crime as a joint principal...
), and the substantive offenses as joint principals (see common purposeIn criminal law, the doctrine of common purpose, common design or joint enterprise refers to the situation where two or more people embark on a project with a common purpose that results in the commission of a crime. In this situation the participants are jointly liable for all that results from...
).
Solicitation has in the U.S.
Literally,
solicitation means: 'urgently asking'. It is the action or instance of soliciting;
petitionA petition is a request to change something, most commonly made to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
;
proposalProposal may refer to:* Proposal * Proposal of marriage* Proposals , a play by Neil Simon* The Proposal , an episode from The O.C. television show...
.
Europe
In
England and WalesEngland and Wales is a legal unit within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland, England and Wales follow the legal system known as English law, and the two form the constitutional successor to the...
, the term
soliciting refers to: "for a common prostitute to loiter or solicit in a street or public place for the purpose of
prostitutionIn the United Kingdom, prostitution is legal for the client and prostitute when aged 18 or over. However several related activities are illegal, these include soliciting in a public place, keeping a brothel, pimping, pandering, kerb crawling and outraging public decency...
", under the Street Offences Act 1959.
The description of
Kerb crawlerA kerb crawler is a person who drives round areas known for street prostitution soliciting prostitutes for sex. The act is known as "kerb crawling" because the person will typically drive very slowly along the kerbside....
makes clear that also: 'the addressing or accosting by a potential prostitution customer of a supposed prostitute with the purpose to conclude to a prostitution agreement with her' is entitled 'solicitation' by some.
United States
In the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
,
solicitation is the name of a
crimeCrime is the breach of one or more rules or laws for which some governing authority, via mechanisms such as police power, may ultimately prescribe a conviction...
, an
inchoate offenseAn inchoate offense, inchoate offence, or inchoate crime is the crime of preparing for or seeking to commit another crime. The most common example of an inchoate offense is conspiracy...
that consists of a person offering money or something else of value in order to incite or induce another to commit a crime with the
specific intentIn criminal law, intention is one of the three general classes of mens rea necessary to constitute a conventional as opposed to strict liability crime.-Definitions:...
that the person solicited commit the crime.
Differences in laws
In the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the term "solicitation" implies some sort of commercial element,
considerationConsideration is the central concept in the common law of contracts and is required, in most cases, for a contract to be enforceable. Consideration is the price one pays for another's promise. It can take a number of forms: money, property, a promise, the doing of an act, or even refraining from...
, or payment.
In some other
common lawCommon law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals , rather than through legislative statutes or executive action, and to corresponding legal systems that rely on precedential case law....
countries, the situation is different:
- where the substantive offense is not committed, the charges are drawn from incitement
In English criminal law, incitement was an anticipatory common law offence and was the act of persuading, encouraging, instigating, pressuring, or threatening so as to cause another to commit a crime....
, conspiracy, and attemptAttempt crimes are crimes where the defendant's actions have the form of the actual enaction of the crime itself: the actions must go beyond mere preparation....
;
- where the substantive offense is committed, the charges are drawn from conspiracy
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
, counseling and procuring (see accessoriesAn accessory is a person who assists in the commission of a crime, but who does not actually participate in the commission of the crime as a joint principal...
), and the substantive offenses as joint principals (see common purposeIn criminal law, the doctrine of common purpose, common design or joint enterprise refers to the situation where two or more people embark on a project with a common purpose that results in the commission of a crime. In this situation the participants are jointly liable for all that results from...
).
Differences from other crimes
Solicitation has in the U.S. these unique elements:
- the encouraging, bribing, requesting, or commanding a person
- to commit a substantive crime.
Unlike
conspiracyIn the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
, there is no overt step necessary for solicitation, one person can be a defendant, and it merges with the substantive crime.
It is not necessary that the person actually commit the crime, nor is it necessary that the person solicited be willing or able to commit the crime (such as if the "solicitee" were an
undercoverBeing undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
police officerA police officer is a warranted employee of a police force. Police officers are generally responsible for apprehending criminals, maintaining public order, and preventing and detecting crimes...
).
For example, if Alice commands Bob to
assaultAssault is a crime of violence against another person. In some jurisdictions, including Australia and New Zealand, assault refers to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, while in other jurisdictions, such as the United States, assault may refer only to the threat...
Charlie, and Alice intends for Bob to assault Charlie, then Alice is guilty of solicitation. However, if Alice commands Bob to assault Charlie without intending that an actual crime be committed (perhaps believing that Charlie has given
consentConsent refers to the provision of approval or assent, particularly and especially after thoughtful consideration.-Tort:Consent can be either express or implied. For example, participation in a contact sport usually implies consent to contact by other participants, when contact is permitted by the...
), then there is no solicitation.
An interesting twist on solicitation occurs when a third party that the solicitor did not intend to receive the incitement overhears the request to the original solicitee and unbeknownst to the solicitor, commits the target offense. In a
minority of jurisdictions in the United States, this situation would still be considered solicitation even though the defendant never intended the person that committed the crime to have done so.
Solicitation is also subject to the doctrine of merger, which applies in situations where the person solicited actually commits the crime. In such a situation, both Alice and Bob could be charged with the crime as accomplices, which would preclude conviction under solicitation; a person cannot be punished for both solicitation and the crime solicited.
Note that
solicitation can apply to just about any criminal act. There are also many statutes for specific solicitation crimes. For example, solicitation of
murderMurder, as defined in common law countries, is the unlawful killing of another human being with intent , and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
is often considered a capital offense, and has its own
statuteA statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a country, state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law and the regulations issued by...
. Other examples might be solicitation of
prostitutionProstitution is the act or practice of engaging in sex acts for hire. In most cultures, prostitution is viewed by many as a deviant profession, either illegal or socially discouraged...
, or solicitation of a
bribeBribery, a form of pecuniary corruption, is an act implying money or gift given that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an...
.