Moral Damage Caused by a Crime or Psychological/ Psychiatric Injury? (Analysis of the Lawyers’ Position)

Abstract

This article presents the opinions of lawyers regarding the legal category of "moral injury" and the problems of its use to restore the rights of crime victims. 102 lawyers from all regions of the Republic of Belarus took part in an anonymous survey on this issue. The results of the survey of lawyers showed that, in accordance with their practical experience, a signifi cant portion of victims of violent acts do not independently fi le claims for compensation for moral injury. At the same time, part of the surveyed community of lawyers sees the need to improve the discussed legal category. Most lawyers supported the idea of dividing psychological/psychiatric injury into ordinary psychological/psychiatric injury (emotional experiences in the absence of a diagnosis of a mental disorder as a result of a crime) and psychological/psychiatric injury in the form of a mental disorder (if an appropriate diagnosis is established). A signifi cantly larger part of the respondents has a positive attitude towards the introduction of specialized test methods to confi rm psychological/psychiatric injury, as well as the introduction of instrumental methods (eye tracking) for additional verifi cation.