A distinction between aggravated assault, simple assault and battery

If a person’s body is injured in a way relevant under criminal law, the possibility of grievous bodily harm (Art. 122 SCC), simple bodily harm (Art. 123 SCC) or assault (Art. 126 SCC) is broached. These distinctions are essential because the offender will be punished accordingly, with the punishment varying from a fine to a ten-year prison sentence. A criminal lawyer in St. Gallen, Zurich or Frauenfeld can illustrate the distinctive differentiations of these charges.

AGGRAVATED ASSAULT

Serious bodily injury is defined by a life-threatening injury (para. 1), injury with significant permanent damages to important organs or limbs (para. 2) and the catch-all clause referring to another person’s physical and mental health (para. 3). Life-threatening bodily injury within the meaning of Article 122, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code can only be assumed if the injury led to a condition in which the possibility of death became a serious and likely. However, the danger to life must not necessarily be immediate or acute; rather, the decisive factor is the substantial probability of the fatal outcome. It is important that the danger to life emanates from the injury sustained and not solely from the act of committing the crime. A grazing shot on the head does not constitute a life-threatening injury. A blood loss of 0.75-1 liters is considered a life-threatening injury, by contrast. According to para. 2, the mutilation or rendering useless of an important organ or limb, the causing of a permanent incapacity to work, infirmity, mental illness or a severe and permanent disfigurement of the face is also punishable. Paragraph 3 serves as a catch-all provision. This includes all cases that are comparable to the serious cases enumerated in Art. 122 paras. 1 and 2 SCC. An attorney for criminal law in St. Gallen, Zurich or Frauenfeld can tell you whether a life-threatening bodily injury or an injury with considerable permanent disadvantage has been inflicted.

ACTs of aggression

Assault is defined as a physical impairment that exceeds socially tolerated levels and does not cause bodily harm or damage to health. Such impairment may exist even if it did not cause physical pain. A typical example is a slap in the face. Assaults are in principle punishable only on complaint. They are prosecuted ex officio in the cases listed in Art. 126, para. 2, including a repeat offence on a person under one’s protection, spouse during the marriage or up to a year after the divorce or on his registered partner. For each of these cases, it is required that the perpetrator has acted repeatedly. This is the case if the assault has been committed several times on the same victim and a certain habit is evident.

SIMPLE BODILY INJURY

In the case of simple bodily injury, damage to one’s health or body has been sustained, which does not fall within the scope of application of either Art. 122 or Art. 126 SCC. Accordingly, simple bodily injury is to be distinguished from serious bodily injury and from assault. The distinction between simple bodily injury and assault can be tricky in the case of bruises, abrasions, scratches or contusions. As a rule of thumb, simple bodily injury has consequences that go beyond the act itself, while assault is limited to the act itself. An attorney for criminal law in St. Gallen, Zurich and Frauenfeld can support your inquiry into whether assault or simple bodily injury has occurred. An injury to physical or mental health is the causing or exacerbation of a pathological condition, excluding temporary disturbances and minor pathological changes. A pathological condition is defined as an adverse change in the physical condition. Interferences with bodily integrity that does not have a ‘pathological value’ are understood as damages to the body within the meaning of Art. 123 No. 1 SCC. Simple bodily injury is only punishable when a criminal complaint has been made.

According to Art. 123 No. 2 SCC, a qualified case of simple bodily injury can exist by the means of the crime or by the object of the attack. Art. 123 No. 2 para. 2 SCC states that the offender will be prosecuted ex officio if he uses poison, a weapon or a dangerous object. The requirements set for poison and weapon are controversial. Poison is a substance that, as a result of chemical reaction with the human body, damages health or destroys life. It is disputed whether the poison’s dosage invites the possibility of a serious injury within the meaning of Art. 122 SCC. According to the Federal Supreme Court, a weapon is an object which serves to attack or defend. The prevailing theory maintains, however, that this only includes objects that are intended to cause serious injury and are used in accordance with their intended purpose (e.g. a pistol). Lastly, a dangerous object is defined as something that, when used in a concrete manner, entails the risk of serious bodily injury (e.g. a paving stone). Our attorneys-at-law for criminal law in Switzerland will be pleased to inform you in more detail about the aforementioned instruments of crime.

Pursuant to Article 123, Point 2 Para. 3-6, the object of the crime must be a specific living person as set out therein. The act can be directed against a defenseless person under the care of the offender (para. 3), against the spouse of the offender (para. 4), against the registered partner (para. 5) or against the heterosexual or homosexual partner of the offender.