Food Theft in a State of Higher Necessity: Commentary on the Judgement of the Poznan District Court of 11 July 2019 (IV Ka 520/19, LEX no. 2729884)

Abstract

In the commented judgment, the courts released a spouse from the charge of redirecting income from her husband’s business onto her account. The spouses had separate assets. The woman justified her behavior by the fact that her spouse did not support her and their child. The court of first instance found no signs of the party’s theft as to the purpose of “appropriation”. The reasoning of the court is erroneous, since appropriation is also the case when theft is committed only with the intention of managing the resources and not to add it to own wealth, including for someone else. On the other hand, the court of second instance recognized there being a state of higher emergency. This reasoning is also erroneous, because there was no subsidiarity of this counter-type – committing crimes was not the only way out of the situation for the accused. The state of higher necessity is not the basis for release from liability in the event of theft from hunger or poverty.

Keywords

• stan wyższej konieczności
• kradzież
• przywłaszczenie
• kradzież z głodu
• kradzież z nędzy