On the meaning of the notion of "violence", as an act of provocation

The judicial practice is sometimes confronted with the problem of defining the notion of "violence", in the sense of the provisions of Article 75 of the Romanian Penal Code. As is well known, the cited provision regulates three hypotheses that may give rise to the attenuating circumstance of provocation and, consequently, to the application of a differentiated regime of punishment of the offender. In analyzing the text of Art. 75 para. 1 Penal Code - two opinions can be formulated in relation to the meaning of the term "violence"; according to one of them, this notion must be understood as a physical act of violence, while according to the other, the cited provisions are also applicable to mental violence, i.e. threat. We will try to present the arguments in favor of each of these theories.