El error de prohibicion y la reforma del ordenamiento penal

Abstract

For quite some time now the need for incorporating the concepts of error of offense and error of prohibition into the Chilean criminal law has been discussed. This article presents the evolution and development of the various theories about the error of prohibition, its doctrinaire and jurisprudential acceptance by both domestic and comparative law, and the state-of-the-art debate over them. Likewise, it contains a solidly grounded stance towards them, exposing the strengths and weaknesses of the most widely accepted points of view. Dogmatic criticisms about the so-called "limited" theories of culpability, which present dogmatic fallacies with practical implications in matters of participation and of attempt as well as in their regulatory grounding, are particularly stressed. Concluding an ongoing debate, the authors also point out the inadvisability of a detailed stance toward the law in matters of doctrine, which often hinders developments in the interpretations recommended to the courts of justice.