Karać czy zapobiegać? Regulacja prawna problemu przemocy „honorowej” w wybranych krajach (regionach) Europy i Bliskiego Wschodu
To Punish or to Prevent? Legal Regulation of the Problem of „Honour”-Related Violence in Europe and the Middle East

Summary/Abstract: The problem of “honour”-related (or “honour”-based) violence is a phenomenon that crosses the boundaries of countries, cultures, and religions. This kind of violence usually tends to be associated with various countries and regions of the Middle East – Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraqi Kurdistan. In Europe, this issue appeared in public debates only at the beginning of the 21st century, limited to the context of migration. Such categorisation has resulted in the politicisation of “honour”-related violence, manifested in the strong dependence of actions taken by the state on such factors as the political line of the ruling party or public feeling. The aim of this article is to answer the question about the legal regulation of “honour”-related violence in selected countries of the Middle East and Europe: Lebanon, Jordan, Iraqi Kurdistan, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany. This will make it possible to identify the means and methods of combating this problem and indicate whether the context of migration determines the solutions applied in practice. The subject of the analysis will be the legal regulation and the judicial decisions, as well as the activity of various public and non-governmental institutions that are involved in the prevention of this problem. The results of the analysis lead to a reflection on the question as to whether criminal law is really the most effective instrument of solving the problem in question. The matter at issue fits into a wider context of the question of use of law-based instruments in order to achieve certain aims of public policies.

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