Identification of Provoked State in Estonian County Court Rulings of 2006-2016

• Author: Kristjan Kask, Liisa Tarkus, Alina Harkovskaja
• Pages: 94-103

94 JURIDICA INTERNATIONAL 27/2018

Kristjan Kask Liisa Tarkus Alina Harkovskaja

PhD MA MA

School of Natural Sciences School of Natural Sciences School of Law

and Health, Tallinn University and Health, Tallinn University University of Tartu

Identif‌i cation of Provoked

State in Estonian County Court

Rulings of 2006–2016

1. Introduction

One of the main questions in forensic psychiatry and psychology related to the legal system is that of issues

surrounding assessment of a defendant’s mental state during commission of the crime.*1 In Estonian legal

literature, there has been debate on engagement of forensic psychology and psychiatry experts in identif‌i -

cation of provoked state.*2 However, the literature has not yet examined how that state is identif‌i ed in the

courts – i.e., to what extent experts are involved. Therefore, this paper has been prepared*3 to investigate

more closely how provoked state is identif‌i ed in the judicial proceedings.

1.1. Provoked state

Sometimes a person cannot su ciently control his or her behaviour because emotion regulation is inhib-

ited. A ect in a very broad sense can be def‌i ned as any emotional reaction to external stimuli.*4 In a nar-

rower sense, a ect is an emotional reaction to stimuli that is so extreme that the person’s self-control is

diminished or completely inhibited.*5 From a legal perspective, this may lead to a question of whether the

above has an e ect on liability in the context of penal law.*6

 A. Aadamsoo. Süüdimatuse meditsiinilised tunnused [‘Medical features of incapability of guilt’]. – Juridica /II,

pp. – (in Estonian).

 T. Kompus. Emotsionaalsete seisundite hindamine kohtupsühholoogilisel ekspertiisil [‘Evaluating emotional statuses in

forensic-psychology expert assessment’]. – Juridica /II, pp. – (in Estonian); P. Randma. Afekt kui hingelise erutuse

seisund ja ajutine raske psüühikahäire [‘A ect as highly provoked state and temporary severe mental disorder’]. – Juridica

/V, pp. – (in Estonian); J. Saar, P. Pikamäe. Hingelise erutuse seisund. Probleemidest Eesti karistusõiguses ja

kohtupraktikas [‘Highly provoked state: Problems in Estonian penal law and practice’]. – Juridica /IX, pp. –

(in Estonian).

 The authors thank Lawrence T. White and Josephine Hirsch from the USA’s Beloit College for their valuable comments

during preparation of the paper and Sandra Kaasik of Tallinn University for assistance in coding the data.

 For example, see J. Saar, P. Pikamäe (see Note ).

 T. Bachmann. Psühholoogia – raamat juristile [‘Psychology – a Book for the Lawyer’]. Tallinn: Juura , especially

pp. –.

 P. Randma (see Note ).

https://doi.org/10.12697/JI.2018.27.10