The institution of provocation in criminal law is an extremely interesting phenomenon, for it may refer both to people who do not perform any public functions as well as to people who hold such a position. In this perspective, it was necessary to indicate in the article the origin of the word provocation and its etymology. Therefore, one conducted an analysis of various definitions and their components. One also indicated the origin of the eponymous institution and the examples manifested in international body of rulings. In a description of such phenomena as provocation, it is necessary to indicate the responsibility of the person who commits the offence(s) mentioned in Art. 24 of the Penal Code. An interesting element has to do with the indication – in one of the subchapters – of the utilisation of provocation in operation- and situation assessment-related activities, which are a result of the act of law about the Police and about other services. Finally, one should ask oneself the question about the extent to which one may shift the application of regulations about responsibility, considering the catalogue of institutions which may employ such technique(s)? Therefore, should not one delimit the scope of the competence of organs such as the Public Prosecutor General/Minister of Justice, in order to enhance the efficiency of the system which was mentioned above? The conclusion of the article constitutes an attempt at answering the question about the aforementioned questions and to consider the plausibility of the combining these positions in the context of the subject which is discussed.
Early Modern Child-Murder Investigations Were Characterized by Many Conflicts and Struggles on Different Levels of the Social Organization. Sources like broadside ballads or pamphlets highlighted the infanticide as a matter of considerable public concern. There the conflict between idea of early modern motherhood and family life and the everyday life of single-mothers dealing with unwanted children was apparent. These moralizing pamphlets were describing virtues of motherhood like self-sacrifice, solicitude, economic and social responsibility and on the other hand authors criticized murdering mothers. Finally, conflicts, antipathy and personal confrontations between members of the family and sexual partners can be traced in these sources. Events prior the crime can be characterized by disagreements between sexual partners, violence and verbal abuse. This contextual analysis of conflicts in five infanticide proceedings from south Bohemia (1690–1710) is the centre of the paper.
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Nowożytne śledztwa w sprawie morderstw dzieci charakteryzowały się wieloma konfliktami i walkami na różnych poziomach organizacji społecznej. Źródła, takie jak ballady czy pamflety, publikowane w gazetach dużego formatu, ukazują dzieciobójstwo jako kwestię, którą żywo interesowała się opinia publiczna. Widać było w tym konflikt między nowożytnym ideałem matki i życiem rodzinnym a samotnymi matkami z niechcianymi dziećmi. Moralizatorskie pamflety przywoływały takie cnoty macierzyństwa, jak samopoświęcenie, troska o innych czy ekonomiczna i społeczna odpowiedzialność, jednocześnie krytykując matki dzieciobójczynie. Co więcej, w tych źródłach można doszukać się konfliktów, antypatii i personalnych konfrontacji między członkami rodziny a kochankami. Wydarzenia poprzedzające zbrodnię dzieciobójstwa to przede wszystkim niesnaski między partnerami seksualnymi, przemoc i słowne zniewagi. Przedmiotem niniejszego artykułu jest analiza kontekstualna pięciu spraw sądowych dotyczących dzieciobójstwa, które to postępowania miały miejsce w południowej Bohemii w latach 1690–1710.