Historyczno-kulturowe uwarunkowania usprawiedliwienia silnego wzburzenia – perspektywa polska (Szkic wokół pracy St. Pikulskiego „Zabójstwo z zazdrości”, Warszawa 1990)

The text presents considerations about the justification of strong emotions that may accompany an attack on the life of another person, conducted against the background of the St. Pikulski’s premises included in the monograph „ Killing out of jealousy”, published in 1970, and reporting, inter alia, on a very extensive examination carried out by the author, of the court cases for the homicides in the years 1976–1985. The whole text revolves around the justiciary understanding of the concepts of „vengeance” and „jealousy”, as motives which deserve consideration by the court that imposes punishment, leading to a lighter penalty. Hence the presentation of historical perspective in the text, dating back to the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and more precisely of some court cases from this period, when cases were investigated for murder out of jealousy. It is followed by the analysis of inter-war period and the interpretation, in the doctrine of art. 225 § 2 of the criminal code of 1932, in which this notion was referred to as „murder under the influence of strong emotions”.