Approaches to the criminalisation of domestic violence in Central and Eastern Europe

ENAs might be expected, legal measures fully addressing domestic violence in all its forms by protecting and empowering the victims and prosecuting the perpetrators are crucial for preventing violence. This chapter overviews the legal framework of various EU states regarding the criminalisation of liability for acts of domestic violence and focuses on the two main approaches to introducing domestic violence into criminal law: (i) as an offence dedicated to domestic violence in the Criminal Code and (ii) by listing ‘domestic violence’ as an aggravating circumstance in relation to other offences (such as battery, threatening, stalling, rape). The advantages and disadvantages of applying these forms of criminalisation are elaborated further on. Finally, as the European Commission, in March 2022, submitted a proposal for an EU directive on combatting violence against women and domestic violence, the chapter offers an analysis of the practical challenges related to the identification of this type of violence as a new area of crime at the EU level. [Publisher annotation]