Endangerment of a Minor - Section 208 of the Criminal Code

Factual statement according to the Criminal Code

Section 208. (1) The person obligated to raise, supervise, or care for a minor — including a parent practicing parental custody, their cohabiting partner, or a guardian, as well as a parent deprived of parental rights if living in the same household or apartment with the minor — who grossly breaches this duty and thereby endangers the minor’s physical, intellectual, moral, or emotional development, shall be punished by imprisonment from one to five years for an offense.

(2) If a more serious crime is not committed, a person over the age of eighteen who: a) persuades or attempts to persuade a minor under eighteen to commit a crime, breach of law, or lead a dissolute lifestyle, b) offers to facilitate the commission of a crime

shall be punishable under paragraph (1).

Object of the Crime

The primary basic offense (paragraph 1) does not have as its passive subject a person under eighteen but rather the minor himself or herself. A minor is someone who has not yet reached the age of eighteen at the time of the act. By marriage, a minor becomes an adult, so such a person cannot be a victim of the offense. The previously acquired adulthood through marriage does not affect this.

In the case of paragraph (2), however, the conduct’s subject is not the adult, and the passive subject is not the minor but a person who is either over or under eighteen years of age. Consequently, the acquisition of majority through marriage is irrelevant: a person under eighteen cannot be the perpetrator of the acts described in paragraph (2), even if they became an adult through marriage. Conversely, a person under eighteen can still be a victim under paragraph (2), even if they became an adult through marriage.

How can endangerment of a minor be committed?

Whether a certain conduct may constitute a crime depends on the overall circumstances of the case. The criminal conduct of the offense involves a serious breach of the duties arising from the obligation to raise, supervise, or care for the minor, which most often results from negligence, and the outcome of such conduct endangers the minor’s physical, intellectual, moral, or emotional development. These obligations are imposed on parents, adoptive parents, and guardians. Similar obligations also extend to persons working with minors in educational, healthcare, or social organizations.

Definition of related terms:

1. Raising refers to conscious influences aimed at promoting the minor’s physical, intellectual, and moral development (e.g., parental behavior).
2. Supervision means monitoring and controlling the minor’s behavior.
3. Care involves meeting the minor’s basic needs, including providing food, clothing, ensuring normal living conditions, and caring for the minor when ill.
4. 
   

The case under paragraph (2) involves persuading or attempting to persuade the minor to commit crimes or engage in a dissolute lifestyle.

Dissolute lifestyle refers to prolonged morally questionable behaviors, such as regular heavy drinking, begging, or drug use.

What constitutes a serious breach of duties?

According to the legislator, only a serious breach of duty can constitute a crime; minor omissions or educational errors do not carry criminal consequences. For example, leaving a child alone for a few hours by the parent is not considered a serious breach of duty on its own.

A breach of duty is considered serious if it fails to meet even minimal societal expectations. For example, if a parent does not call a doctor for their child in need of medical help, this can be a serious breach. It also includes consistent abuse of the minor.

What are the consequences of the crime?

The consequence of the crime is the endangerment of the minor’s physical, intellectual, emotional, or moral development. The offense only occurs if the serious breach of duty explicitly endangers the minor’s development, which must be assessed considering all circumstances, the minor’s personality, and age. This is often a technical matter, and expert forensic opinions are usually sought in criminal proceedings.

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