Victim Consent in the Context of Offences against Sexual Life. Summary of the Doctoral Thesis in Law

Abstract

RELEVANCE and Importance of the Research Problem. With the introduction of Article 132 into the Criminal Code, the institution of victim consent has attracted increased interest in the doctrine concerning offences against sexual life. The absence of express provisions defining the concept of consent in domestic criminal law may create difficulties in the application of consent-based legislation due to challenges related to legal certainty, a principle requiring the law to enable those subject to it to regulate their conduct with certainty.1 The limited scholarly attention devoted to the investigation of this issue, combined with the complexity of correctly identifying and legally classifying acts involving victim consent in the context of offences against sexual life, gives this problem particular relevance. The issue has attracted the attention of both Moldovan and foreign researchers: V. Bujor, V. Cușnir, A. Paladii, A. Borodac, S. Brînza, V. Stati, S. Copețchi, V. Grosu, I. Macari, M. Botnarenco, G. Ulianovschi et al. (Republic of Moldova); H. Diaconescu, I. Miron, R. Glăvan, Radu M.N., D.A. Marinciu, G.C. Ioan et al. (Romania); I.V. Pantiuhina, A.S. Kapitunov, A.S. Kondratenkova, A.A. Bimbinov (Russian Federation); and L. Ullrich, N. Hilgert et al. (USA). As long as criminal law lacks clarity regarding consent in general, the legal classification of offences against sexual life will continue to generate divergences in practice. RESEARCH PROBLEM. The research problem addressed in this thesis concerns the need to substantiate an integrated conceptual model of the relationship between sexual self-determination, sexual consent and criminal-law protection. Such a model would provide coherent criteria for defining legally valid consent, establishing its limits, identifying the circumstances in which sexual autonomy is impaired, and substantiating criminal-law intervention. PURPOSE of the Research The purpose of the research is to provide a theoretical foundation for a criminal-law conception of sexual consent by elucidating its essence, content, conditions of validity, forms of manifestation and limits, as well as by evaluating the criminal-law mechanisms for protecting sexual freedom and sexual inviolability, with a view to substantiating solutions for improving the normative framework and judicial practice.