Criminal Code > BOOK VI 1

BOOK VI

CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY

TITLE I CRIMES AGAINST RIGHTS IN PROPETY

CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 662- Principles.

(1) Any interference with property and economic rights or rights capable of being calculated in money forming a part of the property of another shall be punished in accordance with the following provisions, except where the interference is of such minor importance as to be subject to the provisions and sanctions regarding petty offences.

(2) State, public and private properties are protected under this Code.

Damage to rights in property within the meaning or this Code is constituted by any injury or prejudice suffered in comparison with the normal situation in the absence of the crime.

Article 663- Presumption of Unlawful or Unjustifiable Enrichment.

(1) Where the law requires, in order that there be a crime, that the criminal shall have acted with intent to obtain for himself or to procure for a third person an unlawful enrichment, there is a presumption that the act was done in order to obtain or procure a benefit or an unjustifiable advantage.

(2) In such event, the crime is completed from the time when such special intent, joined to the material elements, is proved, notwithstanding that the intended enrichment has not taken place. Repayment or the making good of the damage, even if unsolicited, after such time, does not vitiate the crime, but the Court may take account thereof in determining the sentence (Art. 79 (e)).

Article 664- Proceedings in the Event of a Crime within the Family.

(1) Except in the cases of crimes involving violence or coercion, such as robbery, extortion or blackmail, where a crime has been committed:

a) between an ascendant and a descendant, natural or adoptive, between spouses not separated, between a step-parent and step-child while the marriage exists, between siblings of the whole blood or of the half blood; or

b) by relatives living with the victim,

proceedings may only be taken upon the complaint of the victim.

(2) The absence of a complaint by the victim shall not act as a bar to proceedings against participants in a crime not covered by the personal relations as defined above (Art. 41).