Incitement is when one person encourages another to commit a crime, which can be done through speeches or threats. It can occur on a large scale, and a person can be found guilty even if no crime is committed. Free speech is debated in incitement cases, but many governments exclude speech that incites crime from constitutional rights.
Incitement is a crime that occurs when one person tries to motivate another to commit a crime. There are several ways this can be done, including through inflammatory speeches and using threats. The list of crimes that a person can be incited to commit is even longer, including acts such as terrorist attacks, rape and theft. It should be clear that a person can be convicted of incitement to others even if those individuals do not actually commit any crime.
For cheering to occur, at least two people must be involved, the one giving the encouragement and the one being encouraged. That doesn’t mean crime is limited to such small numbers. Incitement can occur on a large scale. Fire rallies or the distribution of inspiring written material are examples of how this is possible.
A person can be found guilty of instigation whether or not another crime is committed. Say, for example, Jim encourages his wife, Becky, to plant a bomb in a train station. If Becky does this, it is likely that Jim will be charged with a more serious offence, but it is possible that he could be charged with inciting a criminal act. Even if Becky doesn’t prepare the bomb, Jim could be found guilty because he went to great lengths to get her to do it. How this is handled tends to vary from one jurisdiction to another and sometimes even within a jurisdiction.
In law, an idea, even verbalized, is generally not enough to constitute a crime. A person can say that it would be nice if a building exploded. It is only once the individual has taken some action to make the idea a reality that crime occurs. For this reason, many people find it difficult to understand incitement from a legal point of view.
A person may be encouraged to commit a crime in a positive way, such as by having them promise rewards, or a person may be motivated by fear. Either way, the rationale for prosecuting the motivating party is that he did harm by creating a risk. The fact that he tried to get someone to commit a crime is considered sufficient action to realize an idea.
There is also some debate regarding the role free speech should play when considering incitement. Many governments have determined that there are certain expressions that constitutional rights should not cover. Words that incite others to commit crimes are among them.
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