Breach of trust and criminal misappropriation

a Portuguese-Brazilian conceptual dialogue

Authors

  • Miguel Pedrosa Machado

Keywords:

Breach of trust, Criminal misappropriation, Theft, Breach of confidence, Comparative law

Abstract

The text deals with breach of trust in the Portuguese Penal Code, defined as the illegitimate appropriation of a movable thing delivered under a title not transferring ownership, distinguishing it from theft by the absence of removal and by the legitimate possession that is inverted through dissipation or misappropriation. The exposition reconstructs the opposition between two historical systems, the French one, which treats the incrimination alongside frauds and emphasises the breach of trust, and the Sardinian and Brazilian one, which start from criminal misappropriation, bringing it closer to theft. The investigation concludes that Portuguese law reveals the influence of both systems, adopting the designation breach of trust, the structure of criminal misappropriation and the autonomous relevance of the breach of trust.

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References

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PAGLIARO, A. Appropriazione indebita. Digesto delle Discipline Penalistiche, vol. I, 1987.

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SAMSON, E. Systematischer Kommentar. 3. ed. Frankfurt a. M.: Metzner, 1987. vol. II.

Published

1997-04-01

How to Cite

MACHADO, Miguel Pedrosa. Breach of trust and criminal misappropriation: a Portuguese-Brazilian conceptual dialogue. Brazilian Journal of Criminal Science, São Paulo, v. 18, n. 18, p. 53–55, 1997. Disponível em: https://publicacoes.ibccrim.org.br/index.php/RBCCRIM/article/view/3597. Acesso em: 20 oct. 2026.

Issue

Section

International Doctrine
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