Legal Regulation of First Aid and Criminal Liability for Failure to Provide it

Abstract

The paper examines some problems of criminal law qualification of first aid — providing help in lifethreatening and health-threatening conditions before the provision of medical care by the individuals whose duties include providing such care. The author notes a significant imbalance in the coverage of this problem in comparison with studies on the topic of iatrogenic crime. The purpose of the paper is to identify the main problems of qualification of non-providing first aid by an individual obligated to provide such aid, as well as ways to solve them. Having studied a few scientific papers on this topic, having conducted a comprehensive analysis of domestic legislation, its historical, logical and linguistic interpretation, the author identified three main problems. The first problem is connected with the inclusion of the individuals who may and are obliged to provide first aid in the subject composition of Article 124 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation by many scholars (in addition to doctors): analysis of the logic of the development of domestic criminal and other legislation indicates the depravity of such a point of view. The second problem is related to the terminological disparity in the Russian law: to designate the duties of individuals who may and are obliged to provide first aid, various terms are used (“provide”, “ensure”, “take measures”). All these terms contain different scope of such obligations, which directly affects the criminal law qualification. To demonstrate this fact, an analysis of judicial practice for the period from 2010 to the 2020s was carried out, which made it possible to identify a third problem: unjustified imputation by the courts of failure to provide first aid. As their solution, in addition to organizational measures aimed at improving the skills of first aid subjects, courts and investigative bodies, the author proposes amendments to Article 124 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the universalization of the norms of Russian law concerning first aid.