Substantive criminal law
Remarks on an offence treatedless severely from the perspective of infanticide
The introductory part of the article describes the dogmatic structure of offences treated less severely than the corresponding standard offences. The description was then collated with the analysis of Article 149 of the Penal Code which classifies the crime of infanticide. As aresult, it has been established that the legislator provides for only one basis for treating infanticide as an offence treated less severely. The basis in question, concerning the mother’s emotional disturbance as aconsequence of labour, has not been defined precisely enough. This is due to the fact that there is no empirical research unambiguously confirming the assumption that labour has apathological impact on the psyche of a woman. Thus, the structure of Article 149 of the Penal Code in its current form does not reflect the actual causes of aperpetrator’s criminogenic activity and it is necessary to determine the real basis for treating infanticide as an offence treated less severely than the corresponding standard offence.