Internal limitations of liability and criminal irresponsibility and persons in the state of affect

Abstract

The explanatory dictionary of the Romanian Language offers the following definition of the notion of affect: emotional reaction with a strong and relatively short development. The notion of affect comes from the Latin affectionus, which has the meaning of emotional emotion, horror. Although the legislator does not indicate the types of affect, at the same time in psychology it is considered that it manifests itself under several types. The most common are anger, hatred, horror, fear (and its most intensified form - nightmare, contempt). The appearance of one or another type of affect is in an interdependence on the physiological mechanisms, on the character of the person, as well as on the complex of other internal and external factors. Thus, for the correct appreciation of the actions committed in a state of affect, it is necessary to establish in detail the type of affect, the reason, its causes, the form of guilt, etc. When differentiating the diagnosis of pathological and physiological affections, it is necessary to keep in mind that these are different conditions, although they have an accumulation of common characteristic traits. The common elements of the physiological and pathological affections are attributed to a short duration; sudden onset; emotional reaction; explosive flow; sudden onset; strong emotional discharge; mental and physical exhaustion; partial amnesia.