Whether the different consequences of the offence in human life and health cases influence the determination of the fault form in the Republic of Lithuania courts, under similar circumstances of the offences?

Šiame darbe analizuojamas kaltės formos nustatymas Lietuvos Respublikos teismuose esant panašioms nusikalstamų veikų aplinkybėms, tačiau kilus skirtingiems padariniams bylose žmogaus gyvybei ir sveikatai. Darbe analizuojami kaltės turinio kriterijai, kuriais remiantis yra nustatoma kaltės forma ir rūšis. Taipogi darbe bandoma ištirti kokie turėtų būti universalūs bei objektyvūs kaltės turinio kriterijai, kuriais remiantis būtų galima nešališkai ir objektyviai nustatyti tikslią kaltės formą bylose žmogaus gyvybei ir sveikatai. Galiausiai bandoma išsiaiškinti, ar nusikalstamos veikos padariniai neįtakoja kaltės formos nustatymo. Pirmoje dalyje analizuojami ir nustatomi kaltės turinio kriterijai, kurie lemia kaltės formos nustatymą. Antroje dalyje analizuojama Lietuvos Respublikos teismų praktika siekiant nustatyti kokią reikšmę šie kriterijai turi nustatant kaltės formą bylose žmogaus gyvybei ir sveikatai, taip pat aiškinamasi, ar nusikalstamos veikos padariniai neįtakoja kaltės formos nustatymo.This work analyzes the determination of culpability of the Republic of Lithuania courts in similar circumstances of the offenses, but in case of different consequences of the offense in cases of human life and health. The work analyzes the criterions of the fault content, which determines fault’s form and type. Also, the work attempts to explore what criterions of the fault content should be universal and objective, which impartially and objectively would allow determining the exact form of fault in human life and health cases. Finally, there is an attempt to find out whether the consequences of the offense do not affect the form of the determination of fault. Culpability in matters of human life and health recently raises a number of debates not only on the academic level, but also in the courts of the Republic of Lithuania, since the determination of culpability is very important in criminal law for the legal process. Incorrect determination of culpability adversely affects not only the fate of the accused, but the whole society, as society is interested that the criminals would be respectively punished and would respect society’s protected values such as human health or life. Thus if the fault is determined incorrectly, then it will not pursue justice. Eventually, legislature formed harsh penalties for the offenses that are committed with intent, as a deliberate offense is always regarded as more dangerous and more serious than negligent homicide. A person who acts intentionally, expresses contemptuous position on societal values, such as: life, health or freedom of another person and so on. So the legislature formulates harsh sanctions for the intentional crimes. Meanwhile, the legislator formulates milder sanctions for a person who commits an offense of negligence, as the crime itself is not dangerous, because that person's relationship with these values is different. He committed a criminal act negligently and often not wanting any consequences, so this behavior is not as dangerous as a deliberate, but the consequences of such act can be very heavy. Therefore, selection of culpability in courts is a key moment in determining the particular sentence for the offender. Therefore, this is the pressing problem in the courts of the Republic of Lithuania, because people, who use a knife or other tools against another person, when perceiving the seriousness of the offense, while victim remains alive, are often responsible for the actually originated effects, but not for the attempt to commit murder. However, those, who punched one blow with fist to the head area of a victim and the victim dies, usually considered to be murderers and are sentenced under the Article 129 of the Penal Code of Lithuania. The first part analyses and discusses the criterions of fault content that determine the determination of culpability. The second section analyzes the case law of the Republic of Lithuania in order to determine the significance of these criterions in the determination of fault form in cases of human life and health. Also it examines whether the consequences of the offense does not affect the determination of culpability. The cases are analyzed on the basis of the criterions of fault content, as well as of the received replies of the qualitative study respondents.Vytauto Didžiojo universiteta