Self-interest as a Qualifying Circumstance of the Criminal Offense of Aggravated Murder
Self-interest as a Qualifying Circumstance of the Criminal Offense of Aggravated Murder

Author(s): Miodrag N. Simović
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Criminal Law
Published by: Правни факултет Универзитета у Источном Сарајеву
Keywords: Criminal offense; Murder; Deprivation of life; Motivation; Self-interest;
Summary/Abstract: Criminal offenses of murder stand out among criminal offenses that provide protection to the most important human (and social) values. These are illegal deprivations of another person's life for which different punishments are prescribed. The most serious forms of murder under the name of aggravated (qualified) murder, for which the most severe punishments known in the national criminal legislation are prescribed-occur when the unlawful premeditated deprivation of another person's life was committed under qualifying circumstances. These circumstances include the way the offense was committed, the motives of the perpetrator, the extent of the consequences, the capacity of the perpetrator or the capacity of the victim. According to the motives of the perpetrator, which make the murder more aggravated, qualify criminal offense, there are self-interest, revenge, basic instincts, etc. Self-interest, which is otherwise a common circumstance in the execution of property crimes, can also occur in cases of violating life (or the right to life)The paper sheds some light on self-interest as a type of motivation of the perpetrator that qualifies the unlawful deprivation of life, both in theoretical and practical sense.

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