What is the charge for someone who instigates another to engage in criminal activity?

The charge for someone who instigates another to engage in criminal activity is referred to as criminal solicitation. This legal concept involves encouraging, requesting, or commanding someone else to commit a crime. The critical element of criminal solicitation is the act of urging or persuading another person to engage in criminal behavior, regardless of whether the crime is ultimately carried out. This offense focuses on the intent to promote or facilitate criminal conduct by another individual.

In contrast, conspiracy involves an agreement between two or more individuals to commit a crime and can sometimes require an overt act in furtherance of the agreement. Criminal complicity refers to the involvement of a party in a crime through aiding, abetting, or encouraging the principal offender, and accessory before the fact pertains specifically to someone who assists or prepares for the crime before it occurs but is not present during the commission of the crime. These terms define different roles in the context of criminal law, underscoring the distinct nature of solicitation, which is focused specifically on the act of urging another to commit a crime.