Abstract

The issue discussed is the impact of extending the scope of criminalization of the basic type of the offence of non-payment of maintenance by eliminating the attribute of the consequences consisting in endangering the ability of the entitled person to satisfy their basic needs, on the scope of penal protection of maintenance claims after the obligation to pay maintenance has expired. To support the view that such penal protection is needed attention is paid, above all, to the fact that penal liability is independent of the financial condition of the entitled person and, therefore, also their ability to provide for themselves. In the discussion also the intertemporal aspect is taken into account with respect to outstanding maintenance payments after the obligation to pay maintenance has expired under the previous legal regime. In such circumstances, penal liability, though possible, is however limited by time frames, the beginning of which is set by the effective date of the amending act, particularly due to the lex retro non agit principle.