Failing to intervene to prevent a sexual attack

Supreme Court · Second Chamber (Penal) · 2024

What the Supreme Court considered and decided

The court upheld a bar operator’s conviction for passively witnessing a sexual attack on a semi-conscious customer. It examined the ability to intervene and the failure to prevent the offence.

What this helps explain

The responsibility analysed corresponds to the omission of the duty to prevent crimes, not to attribute the aggression materially to it.

Editorial summary from the official note of the CGPJ. It describes this resolution, without certifying the subsequent evolution of the procedure. It should be read with the legislation applicable to its facts, reforms and subsequent case law.