State of strong emotional excitement in the criminal code of Ukraine: content of the concept and features of its usage

The paper defines the meaning of the concept of the state of strong emotional excitement. The Criminal Code of Ukraine uses the concept of the “state of strong emotional excitement” as a mandatory feature of the subjective side of criminal offenses provided for by articles 116 and 123, as a circumstance that excludes criminal liability for exceeding the limits of necessary defense (part 4 of article 36) and extreme necessity (part 3 of article 39) and also as a circumstance that mitigates punishment, in accordance with clause 7 of part 1 of article 66, but does not disclose its meaning, which leads to different law enforcement practices. It is erroneous to identify a state of severe mental excitement with physiological affect, stress and depression, since, according to modern scientific views, physiological affect meets the criteria of a mental disorder and is much closer to pathological affect than to normal emotional reactions. Stress is a protective reaction of the body to external stimuli, which is symptomatically manifested through emotional reactions of anger, fear, anxiety, etc. And depression is generally a disease that occurs due to various adversities and experienced stresses. To determine whether a person was in a state of severe mental distress at the time of committing a criminal offense, a psychological and psychiatric examination should be prescribed, and establishing the circumstances that led to the emergence of a state of severe mental distress is the competence of the court.