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PCMG Delegado de Polícia study materials
PCMG Delegado de Polícia study resources

PCMG Delegado de Polícia: Criminal Law: General Part and Special Part

PCMG Delegado de Polícia · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Criminal Law: General Part and Special Part

What the exam tests

Brazilian criminal law questions blend the general part (application of the law in time and space, theory of crime, imputability, concurrence of crimes, penalties) with the special part (crimes against the person, property, public administration, and the drug and weapons statutes). You must know the legal good protected by each type and the difference between consummation and exhaustion.

Core concepts

  • Typicidade, ilicitude, culpabilidade: the three elements of the tripartite concept of crime.
  • Dolo and culpa: intent and negligence; culpa consciente versus dolo eventual is a perennial trap.
  • Tentativa: the crime is not consummated for reasons outside the agent's control; the penalty is reduced by one to two thirds.
  • Concurso de crimes: material (cumulative penalties), formal (one act, several types), and continued crime (crime continuado).
  • Erro de tipo and erro de proibição: mistake of fact excludes intent; mistake of law may reduce or exclude culpability.
  • Extraterritoriality: territorialidade temperada is the rule; know the hypotheses of extraterritorialidade incondicionada.

Traps

Questions often reverse the outcome of arrependimento posterior (before denúncia, restitution, reduces penalty) versus arrependimento eficaz (after consummation but before result, excludes crime). Another trap is confusing peculato with furto by a public official and concussão with corrupção passiva.

Rule of thumb

For concurrence, ask: one conduct or several? One conduct with several types is formal concurrence; several conducts with the same type is material or continued. For special-part crimes, identify the subject (public official, private individual) and the legal good before choosing the type.

Worked example

A public official appropriates money he has custody of by virtue of his office. This is peculato (art. 312), not furto, because the possession is lawful and derived from the office. If he demanded the money from a citizen using the office's authority, it would be concussão (art. 316).