Whether a person acting behind the criminally responsible perpetrator can also be held accountable as a perpetrator is a fundamental problem in criminal law. Its resolution has far-reaching implications for the understanding of criminal responsibility and has been widely discussed. Its immediate relevance has recently been highlighted in the question of the accountability of the leadership personnel of the former German Democratic Republic for the shootings of refugees. The author approaches a solution to this fundamental issue with a new methodological orientation towards the 'social type.' In this context, the concepts of system and rule of law serve as the necessary structural cornerstones.