The article is devoted to the criminological aspects of intentional homicide committed in a state of strong emotional disturbance. In order to clarify the peculiarities of the criminological characteristics of intentional homicide committed in a state of strong emotional disturbance, the content of guilty verdicts issued by the courts of Ukraine from January 1, 2010, to June 30, 2025, and published in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions (hereinafter – the Register) was analyzed. During the monitoring of the Register, 71 guilty verdicts under Article 116 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (hereinafter – CC) were identified. To determine the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of this type of homicide, official statistical data (the Unified Report on Criminal Offenses and the Results of Their Investigation, provided by the Office of the Prosecutor General) and specialized literature were also analyzed. As a result of the analysis, data on the prevalence of these crimes were established. In particular, over the past 20 years, an average of 10 homicides committed in a state of strong emotional disturbance were registered annually. The proportion of these crimes within the structure of intentional homicides and within the structure of intentional homicides committed under mitigating circumstances (Articles 116–118 of the CC) remained stable (0.1% and 12.6%, respectively). Based on the analysis of guilty verdicts, certain socio-demographic and criminal-law characteristics of the offender were identified. Most of these homicides are committed by family members, both men and women. Therefore, this type of homicide can be classified as one arising from domestic and family conflicts. The state of strong emotional disturbance is caused by systematic physical abuse by the victim. The socio-legal profile of the offender can be described as follows: these are individuals (both men and women) who are in a family relationship with the victim, have basic or vocational secondary education, are of working age but are neither employed nor studying, and have no prior criminal convictions. At the time of committing the crime, they are not under the influence of alcohol or drugs. They express sincere remorse and fully admit their guilt. Certain conclusions are drawn regarding the patterns of criminal behavior, as well as the main causes and conditions of this crime. It is noted that the main cause of this crime is the provocative behavior of the victim, and in most cases, there had been repeated incidents of domestic violence in which the offender was the victim, and the deceased was the abuser.
Denys Kovalchuk (Sun,) studied this question.