Abstract:
In general, the causal link must meet two conditions: the antecedent of the cause in relation to the effect; the necessary nature of the link between cause and effect. In the case of the crim motive e provided in art. 146 of the Criminal Code, the prejudicial act of illegal deprivation of life of another person must be the necessary cause of brain death of that person. If the brain death of the victim had occurred even if the harmful act in question had not been committed, then that act is not the necessary cause of the brain death of the victim. In such a case there is another necessary cause – an act of a person other than the perpetrator or a certain phenomenon – of the victim’s brain death. The causal link between the prejudicial act and the prejudicial consequences is generally lacking if the causal factors, which are antecedent in relation to those prejudicial consequences, acted outside the perpetrator’s conscience and will. For the injurious inaction to be the cause of the injurious consequences, the causal link must satisfy three conditions: the antecedent of the cause in relation to the effect; the necessary nature of the link between cause and effect; the perpetrator has the obligation to act, an obligation that he does not fulfill.
