In criminal law, there is such a thing as "negligence." This is one of the forms of guilt, which is characterized by a frivolous expectation of preventing the dangerous consequences of a person’s action, or the absence of serious consequences. For committing crimes through negligence, criminal law provides for liability. Therefore, if a person’s guilt in the deed is proved, he will be punished according to one of the articles of the Criminal Code. Learn more about this concept in the process of familiarization with this article.
What you need to know
So, negligence means - this is one of the concepts that is fixed in the criminal law. It applies only when it comes to committing criminal acts in which there was no intent. Thus, even if a person did not want socially dangerous consequences or arrogantly counted on their prevention, if he is found guilty, he will receive a certain punishment for his illegal actions.
Carelessness is an unforgivable mistake, a wrong decision of a person that leads to a sad outcome. Many people who drive vehicles or work in the operating room do not want to knowingly cause harm or death to a person. Therefore, if this happens, then we can say that the act was committed through negligence. Because the person did not want the onset of certain consequences.
the main thing
Negligence is a form of guilt characterized by frivolity or negligence. Thus, these acts relate to crimes of the least or medium gravity.
A careless form of guilt does not constitute such a serious public danger as a deliberate one. Its definition is enshrined in article 26 of the Criminal Code. In accordance with this rule, an act of negligence is an act committed with frivolity or negligence. This must be known.
What does criminal frivolity mean?
In this situation, the perpetrator foresees the onset of dangerous consequences, but does not want their onset and arrogantly counts on their prevention. At the same time, a person does not consider that he commits illegal actions. Although the latter realizes that he neglects certain precautionary rules. In this case, a person seeks to prevent the onset of socially dangerous consequences. The calculation here has real, but not sufficient grounds, and therefore is considered presumptuous.
Additionally
One example of criminal frivolity can be a violation by the driver of the permissible speed of the vehicle, as a result of which he allows a collision with a pedestrian and he dies from his injuries. There is evidence of death by negligence. Because the driver did not want to bring anyone down, much less wanted another person to die, but due to the fact that he could not brake in time, such a sad result was obtained.
It follows that the citizen who was driving the vehicle simply did not fulfill his duties as a driver. He violated traffic rules, and since a person died, that means he committed a criminal act, albeit by negligence. Responsibility for the deed is prescribed in article 264 of the Criminal Code.
Important
The onset of death by negligence is characteristic not only of acts characterized by frivolity and negligence. This can be a dangerous consequence of the fact that a person received serious injuries that were intentionally caused to him by another person. In practice, this is quite common. In this case, the responsibility for the guilty person arises under Article 111 of the Criminal Code.
For example, if serious and irreparable harm was deliberately caused to human health, due to which he subsequently died, then this will be a serious crime against the person. Negligence will not be discussed here.
Therefore, if the examination determines that the person died from the injuries received, the perpetrator will face serious punishment.
How is criminal negligence manifested?
In this case, the perpetrator does not foresee the possibility of dangerous consequences, although they should have foreseen them. A person in such a situation can be held accountable. Because the actions of the latter are connected with his neglect of the norms of law, the safety of the people around him and their interests.
Criminal negligence is characterized by the presence of two criteria - objective and subjective. What does this mean? It is clear that the subjective criterion indicates that the perpetrator must anticipate the onset of dangerous consequences. In turn, the objective criterion is the ability to anticipate a sad outcome.
Thus, if one of the criteria is absent, then a person cannot be held accountable for what he has done.
So, for example, a driver who has driven a prohibitory sign and caused harm to the pedestrian traffic participant by negligence will be guilty of the deed only in that situation if he saw this sign.
Characteristic
The largest number of criminal acts committed by citizens intentionally. After all, a certain goal pushes to commit theft, robbery, extortion of a person. The guilty person wants to get rich at the expense of another and uses a variety of methods for this. In such situations, the attacker acts intentionally. It is for this reason that such crimes have the greatest degree of increased danger. However, acts committed through negligence also lead to serious and negative consequences for human health and life. Even despite the fact that they are much less common than intentional. However, careless acts can also lead to dangerous consequences.
A little about the concept
What in this case is necessary to know? The criminal law provides only a definition of a crime committed through negligence. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, in principle, does not provide a decryption of this concept. For this reason, experts take information from various sources.
Indeed, in most cases, negligence is understood as the unforgivable, unlawful actions of a person that were committed by him unintentionally. As mentioned earlier, a person did not want the onset of negative and dangerous consequences. However, this has happened. The perpetrator accidentally committed a crime and must be punished for it. But for this it is necessary to see the dangerous consequences of the act of negligence. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in a special part contains sanctions specifically for those who have committed crimes of frivolity or negligence (for example, Articles 109, 264).
Serious harm
Is there any punishment awaiting the culprit if another person is accidentally injured through his fault? In this case, everything will depend on the severity of the harm done. If the forensic expert determines that the person received irreparable injuries and injuries due to the careless actions of another person, then the guilty person can face criminal punishment. This is the order.
Because grievance caused by negligence is qualified as a criminal act, the sanctions for which are prescribed in article 118 of the Criminal Code. Another thing is if the victim sustained minor injuries. In this case, no criminal punishment is provided.
There are a lot of examples of causing serious harm to health through negligence in practice. It even happens when babies are burned with boiling water, while the parents go about their business, or a dog left without a leash comes out of the gate and bit a passer-by. In this case, the owner of the pet will be liable to the full extent of the law.
It is for this reason that citizens should be more circumspect and cautious. Then no one will suffer and everything will be in order.
The most negative consequences
Serious punishment awaits the driver in the event that a person dies through his fault. This often happens in situations where drivers get into traffic accidents. Here, everything can end not only with a fatal outcome, but also with the fact that the victim, due to the carelessness of the person driving, will remain disabled for life. What punishment can a driver face if he violated traffic rules and committed an act of negligence that resulted in the death of a pedestrian or passenger? It all depends on the circumstances of the incident. For example, if the driver was sober and admitted his guilt in the deed, then it is possible that he will receive a suspended sentence (up to five years). In a situation where a road accident occurs due to the fault of a drunk driver in which a person dies, only a real term awaits the culprit (from two to 7 years). In addition, the driver will lose his rights for three years (this is the maximum).
Not considered a murder
Inadvertently causing death to another person. However, in practice it is sometimes impossible to distinguish one criminal act from another. Indeed, in both cases, a person dies. In the case when the perpetrator commits murder, his main goal is to deprive a person of his life. This act is always committed intentionally. The culprit can carry the plan for a long time and then implement it. Murder is a grave deed. The guilty person realizes that he is committing unlawful acts, but still wants to bring his plan to the end.
In the event of death by negligence, the person did not want the onset of such sad consequences. Moreover, in this case there is no intent. Although, as in the case of murder, the life of a person is considered the object of the act.
Very often, causing death by negligence occurs in medical practice. After all, doctors do not always do their job efficiently. Sometimes patients simply remain without help and therefore die. In this case, there is no intent, so there is no need to talk about the intentional deprivation of the patient's life.
Practice
In the modern Criminal Code, there are more than eighty articles that provide for liability for committing acts of negligence, or for those crimes that are carried out intentionally and cause serious damage to citizens and the state. Nevertheless, far from all the norms of the law are used by law enforcement bodies in practice. Thus, many perpetrators of reckless acts go unpunished. It only says that modern legislation needs to be improved and seriously revised.
In addition, liability for negligence occurs only with the real occurrence of the result. Thus, a person cannot be found guilty if no one was seriously injured due to his frivolous actions. Moreover, I would also like to note that there is currently no liability in the criminal law for causing moderate damage to health if this was done through negligence. You need to know about this.
If there is no fear
In this case, we are talking about negligence, as one of the components of negligence. Indeed, in this case, a person should have foreseen the onset of dangerous consequences, but for a certain reason he did not do this (lack of due care). Here we can say that the person, carrying out any act, did not think at all about what could harm someone. In this case, a person could simply have a poorly developed mental state, and, as a result, a lack of intelligence.
In such a situation, it is very rarely possible to bring the perpetrator to justice for what happened. For example, if there was a traffic accident due to the fact that a child was driving who had not reached a specified age, in which people were seriously injured. Did he realize that because of the driver’s inability to drive a car, he could take someone’s life? Of course not. Because he has not yet fully developed the ability to think and make the right decisions. Thus, it turns out that the perpetrator is not aware of the danger of his act. If we are talking about the implementation of an imprudent crime by an adult who did not fully realize and could not assume that his actions would harm anyone, then we can conclude that his mental state does not allow him to make sound decisions. Very often this happens due to the presence of certain mental disorders in the offender.
Total
From all of the above, we can conclude that in everyday life, people at any time (in the absence of due diligence) can commit a reckless criminal act. After all, the cause of what is happening very often becomes a frivolous attitude to their actions. Unfortunately, but that is why other people die or get injured.
In addition, I would like to note that even for committing reckless atrocities, a person faces criminal punishment. Consequently, he will have to compensate for the harm caused to the victims. In certain cases established by law, this is done even when the fault of another person is absent. Therefore, if a person, due to his carelessness and inattention, made a traffic accident in which people died, but the court found him not guilty, he will still be obliged to compensate the damage caused by the source of increased danger (car). So it is laid down by law. Many people who have been acquitted in the courtroom often appeal against such a decision. Nevertheless, compensation for harm still falls on the shoulders of violators. Therefore, you need to be more careful.