Failure to render medical aid to the patient (Article 124 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) as an intended crime: a concurring opinion

Abstract

The subject of this research the judicial practice of Russian courts for the period from 2010 to 2020 on crimes qualified under the Article 124 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The subject also includes: relevant provisions of the Russian, Soviet and foreign legislation; doctrinal research dedicated to such types of crimes and iatrogenic crimes in general; as well as crimes with two elements of guilt. The goal is to indicated the discrepancies in the practice of Russian courts, clarify the contributing circumstances, and develop proposals for their elimination. The scientific novelty of this work is dictated by integrity of the used data and methods, previously undisclosed factors of law enforcement and doctrinal contradictions, as well as conclusions that are formulated in the Russian criminal law science for the first time. The first conclusion of this research consists in determination of essential contradictions in the practice of Russian courts with regards to application of the Article 124 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Failure to render medical aid to the patient”. The author established that the reason for these contradictions lies in disparity of the researchers in the question of the subjective side of the crime. The cause of this phenomenon is of complex nature, including the influence of the previously refuted theory of the “mixed” element of guilt. The main result of this research consists in substantiation possibility of establishing the two elements of guilt in the act qualified under the Article 124 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which however results from the flaws of the legal technique. As a solution to this problem, the author offers the projects of reforming the domestic criminal law based on the adapted provisions of the German criminal law.