Psichinė prievarta ir jos baudžiamasis teisinis vertinimas LR BK

Abstract

Summary The present work analyses a range of problems of mental violance doctrine and its chief element – mental violance as an independent category of criminal law. These aspects are urgent not only on a theoretical but also on a practical level of law application. The present work analyses the problems of interrelation between the physical and mental violance. Delimitation between these independent types of coercion takes into account not only the objective characteristic of the machanism of influence or of the object but also appraisal of the person‘s intention. Formulation of an universal conception of mental violance demands that the forms of mental violance representation be viewed widely, that is they are to cover not only threats but also physical violance, used for the purpose of intimidation, insults, slander, compressions and other ways of exercising illegal influence on victim‘s mental power. To reveal the signs characterising mental violance the author of the present work relies upon the total body of subjective and objective characteristics. This approach demands not only the examination of the dangerousness of threats or a variety of the forms of threats‘ representation but also the consideration of person‘s intent. To reveal the conception of threats‘ reality formulated in the mental violance doctrine, the analysis of their chief merits and shortcomings is provided together with the instances of application of these concepts in court practice. In the discussion of aspects of mental violance criminalisation, mental violance is analysed as a separate crime (lat. – delicta sui generis) and as means of compulsion. The analysis of mental violance as a separate crime focuses on the circumstances that only the most dangerous kinds of threats are prohibited by criminal law yet disregarding the necessity to prove the purpose of their application. Analysis of mental violance as means of compulsion, as a way of making somebody act against his/her will, gives a number of ways of assessing an objective sign of such act provided by Criminal Code article. The work also discusses special characteristics of mental violance represented within the criminal acts directed agains indecent assault.