Conspiracy theory

:For the fictional film, see Conspiracy Theory (movie).

Conspiracy in a legal and historic sense

The word conspiracy comes from the Latin "conspirare" ("to breathe together"). In both Latin and French it is used for an agreement of persons to do anything good or bad. As related to the law, it is always taken to do evil.

Related Topics:
Conspiracy - Latin

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In contemporary legal usage, it is an agreement by two or more persons to commit an unlawful act.

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Secrecy is common but not an "essential element" of the crime. Communication and understanding are essential elements of the "agreement." New parties can enter an ongoing conspiracy and may also be found guilty. A further element of the crime, in most jurisdictions is an 'overt act'. For example:

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:Bob and Bill decide to break all the windows on Main Street, an illegal act. In order to make their plot an actionable crime, another element is necessary, other than merely planning to break windows. If either of the conspirators acts in furtherance of their plot, at that point their conspiracy becomes a crime.

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:Bill gathers a sack full of rocks with which he intends to break the windows. At this point, regardless of whether windows are broken, both Bill and Bob could now be charged with the crime of conspiracy, if proof can be given that Bob conspired with Bill.

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Conspiracy can increase the penalty for a given offense. Conspiring to commit a misdemeanor, for instance, can increase the act to a felony.

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The actual existence of countless thousands of such conspiracies is well-known and includes organized crime and gangs as well as cartels in restraint of trade, organized political bribery, and so forth. At any given time, hundreds or thousands of conspiracies are afoot. Such conspiracies are crimes in most nations, and one can be prosecuted on the basis of conspiring to commit an illegal act or being part of a network that was engaged in doing so, or even, sometimes, for knowing about a conspiracy and failing to act to oppose it. (Note: The term "conspiracy theory" is thus sometimes also used to refer to sociological attempts to study the phenomenon of conspiracy.)

Related Topics:
Organized crime - Gang - Cartel - Restraint of trade - Bribery - Crime - Nation - Sociological - Phenomenon

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Historians generally use the term conspiracy to refer to a conspiracy that is considered (by the dominant authorities in the field) to be real, proven, or at least seriously plausible and with some element of support.

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