Concept in Definition ABC

The verb exonerate is presented as a synonym of relieve or discharge and is used to mention that someone stops having a responsibility about something and, consequently, it is clear of the possible guilt of him.

Exoneration as the action of exonerating indicates that a person is freed from assuming a certain responsibility, since it does not correspond to him for some reason. To illustrate this idea, it may be helpful to use a simple example: the obligation to pay the VAT tax. This tax is of a general nature, although the legislation It contemplates a series of circumstances in which it is not obligatory to pay said tax and, therefore, there is an exemption in certain cases.

As a general idea, exoneration implies that there is a rule obligatory compliance and that affects everyone equally, but every rule has its exceptions and each exception is a way of exempting someone, of exonerating him.

In the field of law

The term in question has an obvious legal dimension. We could say that if someone is exonerated for something, this means that no legal responsibility can be legally required. For this reason, exoneration clauses are sometimes established, because in this way whoever signs said clauses avoids being considered responsible or guilty of some acts. The liability exemption clauses are questioned by some jurists, since they consider that certain responsibilities They cannot be agreed a priori to be exonerated, since no clause is valid in the event that it opposes what it establishes the

In the context of right criminal the concept of exoneration is frequently used in connection with the idea of ​​criminal responsibility. A criminal can be exonerated of his responsibility if there are a series of exonerating circumstances: a transient mental disorder, a high intoxication state, or significant impairment of ability intellectual.

Among the most common causes of criminal exoneration, legitimate defense is the best known. There is a circumstance that is also used as a possible argument to avoid responsibility: the state of need (for example, in the event that someone stole for the sole purpose of feeding).

The causes of exoneration are contemplated in the code criminal of a nation, although this does not prevent a possible legal discussion on some causes. A clear example is the exoneration due to the line of duty. This legal figure has been used on many occasions to avoid criminal responsibility, as It happened at the Nuremberg trials in which Nazi military men were tried when the II War ended World.