What is dolus eventualis?
Dolus eventualis (Latin for "eventual intent," often translated as conditional intent) describes a mental state in which a person:
- foresees that their conduct could cause a prohibited result, and
- reconciles themselves to it, going ahead even if the result happens.
In civil-law countries such as Germany, Korea, Japan and South Africa, this counts as intent. A driver who rams through a crowd to escape police, accepting that someone may die, can be convicted of murder even though killing was not the goal.
- Knowledge element
- The result is foreseen as possible, not certain
- Volitional element
- The person accepts or "makes peace with" the risk
- Legal effect
- Treated as intent (dolus), not negligence
- Closest common-law term
- Recklessness (Model Penal Code § 2.02(2)(c))
Levels of fault compared
| Mental state | Awareness of result | Attitude toward result | Typical liability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct intent (dolus directus) | Wants it or knows it is certain | Aims at it | Intentional crime |
| Dolus eventualis | Sees it as possible | Accepts the risk | Intentional crime |
| Conscious negligence (luxuria) | Sees it as possible | Trusts it will not happen | Negligent crime |
| Unconscious negligence | Should have seen it | Not aware | Negligent crime |
The hardest line is between dolus eventualis and conscious negligence. Both people saw the risk. The difference is whether they thought "so be it" or genuinely believed things would turn out fine.
How courts prove it
Because nobody can look inside a defendant’s head, courts infer the mental state from the facts:
- how dangerous the act was (weapon, target area, repetition)
- what the person knew from training or experience
- whether they took steps to avoid harm
- their motive and behavior afterward, such as fleeing or helping the victim
The label changes the sentence dramatically. In Korea, the same death can be punished as murder (5 years to life or death) or as negligent homicide (up to 2 years).
A well-known example: the Sewol ferry case
In 2015, South Korea’s Supreme Court (en banc) upheld a murder conviction against the captain of the Sewol ferry, which sank in 2014. He knew passengers were following announcements to stay in their cabins, yet he abandoned ship without ordering an evacuation. The court held that he foresaw the passengers’ deaths and accepted them, which amounted to murder by omission with dolus eventualis.
Common law: recklessness instead
The United States and the United Kingdom do not use the term. The Model Penal Code grades mental states as purposely, knowingly, recklessly and negligently. Recklessness means consciously disregarding a substantial and unjustifiable risk. Where recklessness shows "extreme indifference to the value of human life," it can support a murder charge (often called depraved-heart murder), which is the functional equivalent of dolus eventualis.
Frequently asked questions
- Is dolus eventualis the same as recklessness?
- They overlap but are not identical. Dolus eventualis requires accepting the result, while recklessness only requires consciously ignoring a substantial risk. Ordinary recklessness usually supports manslaughter, not murder.
- Which countries recognize dolus eventualis?
- Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Korea, Japan, South Africa and many Latin American countries use it, and China has the similar concept of indirect intent.
- How is it different from negligence?
- A negligent person either did not see the risk or truly believed it would not happen. A person with dolus eventualis saw the risk and went ahead anyway, accepting the outcome.
References
- 형법 제13조, 제14조 (국가법령정보센터 law.go.kr)
- 대법원 2015. 11. 12. 선고 2015도6809 전원합의체 판결 (세월호 사건)
- American Law Institute, Model Penal Code § 2.02 (1962).
- 刑法第38条（e-Gov法令検索 laws.e-gov.go.jp）
- 《中华人民共和国刑法》第十四条、第十五条（国家法律法规数据库 flk.npc.gov.cn）
- Roxin, C. (2006). Strafrecht Allgemeiner Teil, Bd. I (4. Aufl.). C.H. Beck.