Straffvärdet vid underlåtenhetsbrott – Underlåtenhet som en förmildrande omständighet?
(2015) LAGF03 20151Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Syftet med uppsatsen är att genom en rättsdogmatisk metod och ett kritiskt perspektiv granska hur underlåtenhet påverkar bedömningen av straffvärdet i en domstols straffmätning och undersöka om underlåtenhet verkligen ska ses som en förmildrande omständighet. Uppsatsen behandlar själva utformningen av principerna kring underlåtenhetsbrott enligt Jareborgs garantlära i svensk rätt idag och en utredning kring straffvärdebestämmelserna. Slutligen behandlas problemet ur ett praktiskt perspektiv i det så kallade ”Yara-fallet”.
Frågan kring straffvärdet av ett underlåtenhetsbrott blir aktuellt i ”Yara-fallet” där en man och en kvinna båda blev dömda för mord på Yara, mannens åttaåriga systerdotter. Kvinnan misshandlade henne till döds medan... (More) - Syftet med uppsatsen är att genom en rättsdogmatisk metod och ett kritiskt perspektiv granska hur underlåtenhet påverkar bedömningen av straffvärdet i en domstols straffmätning och undersöka om underlåtenhet verkligen ska ses som en förmildrande omständighet. Uppsatsen behandlar själva utformningen av principerna kring underlåtenhetsbrott enligt Jareborgs garantlära i svensk rätt idag och en utredning kring straffvärdebestämmelserna. Slutligen behandlas problemet ur ett praktiskt perspektiv i det så kallade ”Yara-fallet”.
Frågan kring straffvärdet av ett underlåtenhetsbrott blir aktuellt i ”Yara-fallet” där en man och en kvinna båda blev dömda för mord på Yara, mannens åttaåriga systerdotter. Kvinnan misshandlade henne till döds medan mannen, som enligt garantläran befann sig i skyddsgarantställning gentemot flickan, såg på. Både mannen och kvinnan blev dömda för mordet. Kvinnan blev dömd genom aktivt handlande och mannen på grund av sin underlåtenhet att ingripa och skydda flickan. I straffvärdebedömningen i det här fallet var omständigheterna så pass försvårande att straffvärdet bedömdes så högt att det gav livstids fängelse för kvinnan. I mannens fall blev det dock endast 14 års fängelse, trots de högst försvårande omständigheterna. Anledningen till detta var att mordet var begånget genom underlåtenhet.
För att en underlåtenhet ska kunna bli brottslig krävs det att gärningsmannen, på grund av sin garantställning, har en så stark skyldighet att handla att underlåtenheten ska gå att anse som lika straffvärd som en aktiv handling. Detta säger emot den generella utgångspunkten om att ett underlåtenhetsbrott ter sig mindre straffvärt. Genom en utredning av underlåtenhetsbrott och straffvärde, samt en genomgång av ett praktiskt exempel, kommer jag i min analys fram till att det, trots att det i många fall är förmildrande att begå ett brott genom underlåtenhet, finns starka skäl att inte utgå ifrån det. Speciellt straffvärt är våldsbrott begångna mot barn. I sådana fall ska skyddsgarantens skyldighet att agera vara så stark att underlåtenheten inte kan bli förmildrande i straffvärdebedömningen. (Less) - Abstract
- The purpose of this essay is to use a legal dogmatic method, and with a critical perspective, analyse how the fact that a crime is one of omission, thus caused by a failure to act, affects the Court's judgement on a suitable sentence. Is the fact that a crime is an omission automatically a mitigating factor that leads to a lesser sentence? This essay treats the general legal principles and the regulation of omission crimes in Swedish law, along with the legislation ordering the sanction. Towards the end of the essay, the question studied is treated with respect to a real life example, the so-called ”Yara case”.
The question of this sanction in Swedish law becomes highly relevant in the ”Yara case”, in which both a man and a woman were... (More) - The purpose of this essay is to use a legal dogmatic method, and with a critical perspective, analyse how the fact that a crime is one of omission, thus caused by a failure to act, affects the Court's judgement on a suitable sentence. Is the fact that a crime is an omission automatically a mitigating factor that leads to a lesser sentence? This essay treats the general legal principles and the regulation of omission crimes in Swedish law, along with the legislation ordering the sanction. Towards the end of the essay, the question studied is treated with respect to a real life example, the so-called ”Yara case”.
The question of this sanction in Swedish law becomes highly relevant in the ”Yara case”, in which both a man and a woman were convicted of the murder of their eight-year-old niece Yara. Yara had come, just a year before her death, to Sweden from Palestine to escape the war. While her parents were still in Palestine, she lived with her aunt and uncle who had full custody of her. The 30th of April 2014, Yara's aunt committed an assault that caused the girl to die. The uncle was present in the apartment but failed to act to stop the assault. The Swedish court found them both guilty of murder. The woman’s sentence was life imprisonment while the man's sanction was only 14 years in prison. His crime being one of omission was seen by the judges as a mitigating factor.
For a crime of omission to become punishable in Swedish law, the perpetrator must have an obligation to act strong enough to make the omission as punishable as a deed caused by an action. This is contradictory to the general opinion among Swedish lawyers, who believe that an omission is a mitigating factor. After an analysis of the crimes of omission and the legislation of a sentence, along with my practical example, I will arrive at the conclusion that even though a crime committed by omission usually is mitigating, there are many reasons not to assume that this is always the case. Especially punishable are crimes of violence against children. In those cases the obligation to protect is so strong that consciously failing this duty can never be a mitigating factor and thus lead to a reduction of the sentence. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/5431282
- author
- Larsson Riad, Molly LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- LAGF03 20151
- year
- 2015
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Straffrätt, underlåtenhetsbrott, garantläran, straffvärde
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 5431282
- date added to LUP
- 2015-07-06 09:29:05
- date last changed
- 2015-07-06 09:29:05
@misc{5431282,
abstract = {{The purpose of this essay is to use a legal dogmatic method, and with a critical perspective, analyse how the fact that a crime is one of omission, thus caused by a failure to act, affects the Court's judgement on a suitable sentence. Is the fact that a crime is an omission automatically a mitigating factor that leads to a lesser sentence? This essay treats the general legal principles and the regulation of omission crimes in Swedish law, along with the legislation ordering the sanction. Towards the end of the essay, the question studied is treated with respect to a real life example, the so-called ”Yara case”.
The question of this sanction in Swedish law becomes highly relevant in the ”Yara case”, in which both a man and a woman were convicted of the murder of their eight-year-old niece Yara. Yara had come, just a year before her death, to Sweden from Palestine to escape the war. While her parents were still in Palestine, she lived with her aunt and uncle who had full custody of her. The 30th of April 2014, Yara's aunt committed an assault that caused the girl to die. The uncle was present in the apartment but failed to act to stop the assault. The Swedish court found them both guilty of murder. The woman’s sentence was life imprisonment while the man's sanction was only 14 years in prison. His crime being one of omission was seen by the judges as a mitigating factor.
For a crime of omission to become punishable in Swedish law, the perpetrator must have an obligation to act strong enough to make the omission as punishable as a deed caused by an action. This is contradictory to the general opinion among Swedish lawyers, who believe that an omission is a mitigating factor. After an analysis of the crimes of omission and the legislation of a sentence, along with my practical example, I will arrive at the conclusion that even though a crime committed by omission usually is mitigating, there are many reasons not to assume that this is always the case. Especially punishable are crimes of violence against children. In those cases the obligation to protect is so strong that consciously failing this duty can never be a mitigating factor and thus lead to a reduction of the sentence.}},
author = {{Larsson Riad, Molly}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Straffvärdet vid underlåtenhetsbrott – Underlåtenhet som en förmildrande omständighet?}},
year = {{2015}},
}