Chapter II. General conditions for punishment. Art. 12 An act committed as an emergency defence measure shall not be punishable to the extent that it was necessary in defence against, or to avert, an unlawful attack that was already initiated or was imminent, provided that the defensive measures taken were not obviously more dangerous than were warranted by the attack and the injury or damage it could be expected to cause. A person who has exceeded the limits of permitted emergency defence as a result of having been so frightened or startled that he or she could not exercise full restraint, shall not be punished. Art. 13 Any act that was necessary in order to protect lawful interests against imminent danger shall not be punishable, even if it led to the abridgement of other interests that must be regarded as considerably smaller. Art. 14 No person shall be punished for a deed committed before he or she attained the age of 15 years. Art. 15 Persons who, due to mental illness, mental retardation or degeneration, diminished cognition or another comparable condition were completely incapable of controlling their actions at the time of the commission of the deed shall not be punished. Art. 16 If the perpetrator of a deed had impaired mental capacity due, for example, to retardation, degeneration, abnormal sexual development or other disturbance, this condition not being as pronounced as is described in Article 15, he or she shall be punished for the offence if, as appropriate and after medical opinion has been obtained, it is reasonable to consider that punishment will produce results. If an institution intended for persons such as those mentioned in this Article is established, it may be stated in the sentence that the offender is to serve his or her [sentence] in that institution. 1) 1) L. 82/1998, 1. gr. Art. 17 Punishment shall be imposed even though the offence was committed while the perpetrator was drunk or under the influence of other intoxicants. In cases of complete lack of self-awareness, however, punishment shall not be imposed unless the accused knew in advance, or had full reason to be aware, that he would commit the offence while under the influence, or that the offence would follow from his or her being in that condition. Art. 18 Deeds for which punishments are prescribed in this Act are not punishable unless they are committed by intent or through negligence. Punishment shall only be imposed for offences committed through negligence if special authorisation for this is made in this Act.

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