Domestic violence

June 11, 2020

In accordance with Article 1 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On the Fundamentals of Crime Prevention Activities", domestic violence means intentional physical, psychological, or sexual actions by a family member towards another family member, which violate their rights, freedoms, legitimate interests, and cause them physical and (or) mental suffering.

Crimes committed on the grounds of domestic conflicts are of increased public danger, as a rule, they are directed against human life and health. In this regard, the identification and prevention of this type of crime and offense is one of the priority areas of activity for law enforcement agencies and other prevention entities.

The district prosecutor's office has analyzed the investigative and judicial practice in criminal cases concerning crimes committed on the grounds of domestic conflicts.

It was established that in the past period of 2018, the court of Gluboksky district considered 8 criminal cases of crimes of the above-mentioned category:

Article of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus	Number of criminal cases considered
Part 1 of Article 139 (Murder)	1
Part 1 of Article 147 (Intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm)	1
Article 153 (Intentional infliction of minor bodily harm)	1
Part 1 of Article 154 (Torture)	1
Art. 186 (Threat of murder)	4

In all cases, the court rendered guilty verdicts.

Depending on the degree of public danger and the specific circumstances of the committed crimes, three offenders were sentenced to imprisonment (Part 1 of Art. 139, Part 1 of Art. 147, Part 1 of Art. 154 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus). Five convicted individuals were subjected to penalties not related to isolation from society (community service, fines).

The study of criminal cases of this category revealed that all crimes were committed by persons who were intoxicated.

A woman participated in the commission of 1 crime (murder); other crimes were committed by men.

The results of the personality study of the perpetrators indicate that the majority of them led an immoral lifestyle for a long time and abused alcohol. Preventive measures with them were sometimes carried out formally, or they completely fell out of the scope of attention of both law enforcement agencies and other preventive entities.

In 2018, a number of organizational and practical measures aimed at preventing domestic violence were implemented in the district by interested bodies and services.

For example, on 16.07.2018, based on the results of inspections conducted by the Prosecutor's Office of the Glubokoe District and an analysis of the developing situation, in order to stabilize the crime situation, the District Prosecutor convened a coordination meeting on combating crime and corruption. The meeting addressed the issue of improving interaction between law enforcement agencies and other preventive entities in the enforcement of legislation aimed at preventing grave and especially grave crimes against life and health of citizens. The decision of the coordination meeting was fully implemented.

Also, in the current year, based on materials from inspections conducted by the Glubokoe District Department of Internal Affairs, the District Prosecutor initiated 4 criminal cases of a preventive nature against individuals perpetrating domestic violence.

Preventive work in this direction will continue in 2019.

Deputy Prosecutor

Glubokoe District

Junior Justice Advisor

V.M. Dailidenok