GROUP Nº 5

PERSONAL INJURIES

It is a legal term used to describe any form of injury that occurs to a

person, including physical harm, as well as any harm caused on an emotional or
mental scale.
The art. 46° CRBV, establishes the physical and mental integrity of people as a
fundamental right and the Penal Code, for its part, sanctions those acts that
threaten the physical integrity of people.

CLASSIFICATION OF INJURIES

Classification of injuries according to the Venezuelan penal code:

From the subjective point of view: according to the subjective element it has
to do with intentionality

1 .- Intentional or intentional injuries: in turn they are subdivided into: Simple,

aggravated, qualified and attenuated.

2 .- Culpable injuries: Art. 420 CP They are those injuries as referred to in the
article as a result of recklessness, negligence, inexperience in the profession,
art or industry, or due to non-observance of regulations, orders or disciplines;
with which, bodily harm or harm to their intellectual faculties is caused to
another.

3 .- Preintentional injuries: Art. 419 CP "When, in the cases provided for in

the preceding articles, the fact exceeds in its consequences the end proposed
by the guilty party, the penalty established therein will be reduced from one third
to one half."

In terms of injuries, this crime takes the intention as a degree of guilt (Art.
420 CP) and Preterintentionality (Art. 419 CP).
In relation to the crime of pre-intentional injuries (Art. 419 CP) The person
intends to injure, to cause damage to the passive subject, but said damage,
without leading to his death, is greater than what the active subject wanted to
inflict.

Pre-intentional injuries can be: Very serious pre-intentional injuries;

serious pre-intentional injuries and minor pre-intentional injuries; since this
article 419 CP relates to all the others: "When in the cases provided for in the
preceding articles"
 The pre-intentional injury will be applied according to the result, to the
grading that determines whether this is a very serious, serious or minor injury,
but when the intentionality is determined it must be taken into account that the
person had the intention to injure but that the result was greater to what he
intended to cause; and, when in the pre-intentional injury it is determined that
the harmful intention was less than the result, the sanction will be mitigated.

From the objective point of view: according to the objective element, it has to
do with the tangible result and must be determined to classify the injury.

1 .- Less serious injuries . Art.413 CP "Anyone who, without intending to kill,

but causing harm, has caused any person physical suffering, damage to health
or a disturbance in intellectual faculties, will be punished with imprisonment of
three to twelve months."
This article defines what injuries are: constituted by physical or mental suffering
that causes damage to health or mental disturbance.

2 .- Very serious injuries (something irrecoverable). Art. 414 CP In this

article we infer that the event (injury) must cause the passive subject a certain
mental or bodily (physical) illness, which means that it must be determinable;
because it is there (passive subject) and was produced or provoked by the
agent who attacked the person (active subject); the disease may probably be
incurable; or caused the loss of a sense (sight, hearing), of a hand, of a foot, of
speech (muteness), of the ability to engender (sterility), of the use of some
organ (loss of a kidney), or produced any injury that disfigures the person
(determined by the symmetry of the human body); Having committed the crime
against a pregnant woman, the crime has caused her to have an abortion, and
will be punished with a prison sentence of three to six months.
years.

3 .- Serious injuries. Art. 415CP This article lowers the penalty (one to four
years in prison) in relation to article 414 CP, and the injury must cause:
Permanent disqualification, notable scar on the face (more serious case than the
previous one), mental or physical illness that lasts twenty days or more; time in
which the person is unable to carry out their usual occupations, loss of a sense
or an organ, permanent difficulty speaking; We are not talking about abortion but
about premature birth .

Serious injuries, specified in Art. 415 CP which are one by one in detail
and establishes a time of assistance, healing or

disqualification of twenty days either

further.

4 .- Minor injuries. Art. 416 CP It is any type of injury, but it establishes a

 healing period of ten days. The penalty will be imprisonment from three to six
months.

5 . Very minor injuries. Art. 417 CP Damage has simply been caused to a
person (any damage) but he or she does not need assistance, nor is he or she
incapable of carrying out his or her usual job; the penalty will be imprisonment
for ten to forty-five days.

These crimes are influenced by:

a) The sorrow;
b) The type of injury;
c) The procedure to follow according to the COPP: For arrest crimes, the COPP
establishes that the abbreviated procedure must be followed, therefore, the
accusation will be brought directly before the Single Judge. For the rest of the
injury crimes, the ordinary procedure will be followed.

Plus three types of injuries:

Qualified Injuries: Art. 418th CP They are provided for in the heading of article
418 of the Penal Code, which establishes the following:

"When the act specified in the preceding articles is accompanied by any

of the circumstances indicated in article 406, or when the act is committed with
insidious weapons or with any other weapon itself, or by means of corrosive
substances, the penalty will be increased. in the proportion of one sixth to one
third."

Ignoring the circumstances that we already evaluated at the time in article

407 of the Penal Code, we will proceed to explain the specific qualifiers of the
injuries.

• 1- Insidious weapon: Insidious weapons are considered to be those that are

easily
concealed and serve to offend by surprise or ambush, such as blades, rapiers,
daggers, knives, short-barreled pistols and revolvers, explosive devices and
white or firearm weapons that are hidden or concealed in any way in batons or
any other another object of lawful use.

• 2- Weapon itself: those that have been created to kill or

injure, for example (a revolver).

• 3- Corrosive Substance: it is the caustic substance, that is, the one that burns
and
disorganizes tissues.
 As for the subjects, they can be:

• Of indifferent active and passive subjects (for example, the one perpetrated with
treachery)
• Of active and passive subjects qualified (for
example committed by he
ascendant against his descendant).
• Of indifferent active subject and qualified taxpayer (For example
the
perpetrated against he president of the republic).

Aggravated Injuries : Art. 418th CP They are enshrined in the sole section of
article 418 of the Penal Code, which establishes the following:

"If the act is accompanied by any of the circumstances provided for in

Article 407, the penalty will be increased by one third, without prejudice to the
sentence of the concurrent punishable act that cannot be considered an
aggravating circumstance but rather a separate crime."

Regarding the subjects:

• 1. Qualified active and passive subject (perpetrated by one brother to another)

• 2. Of indifferent active subject and qualified passive subject (the one committed
against
any of the public officials mentioned in ordinal 2 of article 408 of the penal code).

Attenuated injuries: Arts. 421st and 424th CP An appeal for annulment was
filed on this article, which was declared admissible by the now defunct Supreme
Court of Justice, due to its discriminatory nature . The new text equates women
to men.

Another way to mitigate the crime of injuries is in article 424 CP

corresponding to the respective complicity (both for homicide and injuries).

They are attenuated injuries because the article states: "The husband or
wife who surprises their spouse and their accomplice in adultery , kills, wounds
or mistreats one or both of them will not incur the common penalties of homicide
or injuries." )".

ELEMENTS OF THE CRIME OF INJURIES

• Active subject: This is a crime of indifferent active subject, since it can

be committed by any natural and attributable person.

• Passive subject: In the same way it is indifferent. It must be another

natural person other than the aggressor. A natural person obviously,
 since legal entities cannot be passive subjects of the crime of personal
injury.

• The material Object: It is the same passive subject, that is, the natural
person damaged in their physical or intellectual health or experiencing
physical suffering.

• The Legal Object: It is represented in the protected legal asset, which in

this case is physical integrity.

• Means of perpetration: We could classify them as follows:

• 1- Direct (using a dagger) or Indirect (using an unimpeachable person as

instrument)
• 2- Action or omission (stopping feeding and thus causing anemia)
• 3- Physical or moral. The use of a moral means to cause injury,
reconsiders the evidentiary difficulty that has been referred to in the matter of
homicide by moral means.

Less serious intentional injuries, like all intentional injuries, admit attempt and
frustration.

• The penalty: The penalty for less serious injuries will be three to twelve
months in prison, which gives an average of seven months and fifteen
days in prison.