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Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

College of Law, Sumer University

كلية القانون جامعة سومر

P-ISSN: 3081-1082

The legal impact of the victim's status in determining the punishment

Ali Abdul Hadi Hamid

Abstract

The impact of the victim's status on determining punishment is a complex issue in criminal policy, given the interplay between protecting individual interests and safeguarding the public interest. While criminal law generally bases liability on the elements of a crime—act, result, causation, and criminal intent—the legislator may consider the victim's status as an aggravating or mitigating circumstance when that status touches upon values specifically protected by law, such as when the victim is a minor, a person with a disability, or a public official performing their duties. Therefore, the victim's status is not merely a incidental element, but rather a significant factor in the legal characterization of the act and the scope of the prescribed punishment. This ensures proportionality between the seriousness of the crime and the severity of the offense, reflecting the general and specific deterrent considerations upon which the penal system is founded. In order to be familiar with this topic under discussion, we will divide it into two sections. In the first section, we will discuss the status of the victim as an influential element in classifying the crime and individualizing the punishment. As for the second section, we will dedicate it to the procedural effect of the status of the victim in the stage of assessing the punishment.

الكلمات المفتاحية: victim, punishment, legal status, individualization of punishment, reduction of punishment

منشور في:
Vol. 1 No. 2 (2026): Vol. (1), No. (2), June. 2026
تاريخ النشر:
2026-06-02
معرف الوثيقة الرقمي (DOI):
https://doi.org/10.66734/seavy848
الصفحات:
407- 439