Der Affekt im schweizerischen Strafrecht

Most people are familiar with the influence of emotions on their actions from everyday life. It is therefore not surprising that strong emotions can also have a decisive influence on criminal acts. The present work deals comprehensively with the consequences under criminal law of such an exceptional emotional situation. The aim of the work is to show where and in what way the affect of an offender is taken into account in Swiss criminal law. To this end, the first part of the paper clarifies the terminology and reviews psychological, neurological and neurobiological findings on the nature and modes of action of emotions. In the second part, it is systematically presented where and how affect is taken into account in the General and Special Parts of the Criminal Code.