Injury crimes and the temporary incapacity for work: A critique

Abstract

The duration of a victim's incapacity for work is a factor in sentencing for violent crimes in countries that are heirs to eighteen-century European penal codes. In this article, we consider pitfalls of this criterion. A major issue is the poor correlation between the criminal intent, the criminal act and the outcome of the injury. Furthermore, external factors unrelated to the aggression often contribute to punishment decisions under these systems. As an alternative, we highlight recent changes to the penal code in Spain. The Spanish system has replaced incapacity for work with a different health-related criterion for sentencing in personal injury cases. We argue that this approach places a greater focus on protection of bodily integrity that is more consistent with the ostensible intentions of laws against personal violence.