In Orthodox Christianity, suicide is recognized as one of the most serious sins. Religion explains this by the fact that a person simultaneously kills and falls into despair. He will not be able to repent of these sins. People who commit suicide lose their funeral services before burial. Only crazy people who commit suicide in a state of clouding of the mind are the exception. Previously, suicides were buried outside the cemetery. In the Soviet years, it was widely believed that suicide acts as a clear sign of mental insanity. This means that each suicide bomber was posthumously awarded the title of abnormal. Those who managed to save, put on a lifelong record with a psychiatrist. Today, suicide can cause sympathy, compassion, pity, and in some cases even condescension.
Criminal law
Today, the qualification of an act, which is provided for in Article 110 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, is fraught with a number of problems. This is due to the relatively young age of suicides. Many of them are barely 30 years old. Undoubtedly, a person can decide for himself whether to live or die. However, it should be remembered that under the suicide of a person can bring a criminal. Despite the fact that such an act falls under the category of public prosecution, identifying it without a statement by the victim himself (in the case of an attempt) or relatives of the deceased is very problematic, and in some cases impossible.
Article 110 of the Criminal Code: punishment
Bringing a citizen to suicide or attempting suicide through systematic (permanent) humiliation of the dignity of the victim or threats and ill-treatment of him involves:
- Up to three years of restraint of liberty.
- Forced work.
- Imprisonment.
The duration of the last two sentences is up to five years.
Objective part
It is formed from the perpetrator taking quite specific actions with which he pushes the victim to commit suicide. According to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, they included exclusively systematic degradation of human dignity and ill-treatment. Article 110 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is presented somewhat more widely. The disposition view is supplemented by threats. Systematic humiliation is expressed in constant bullying, insults, slander, cynical ridicule of any physical defects of the victim and so on.
Article 110 of the Criminal Code with commentary
Normally, there is no explanation regarding the actions of the perpetrator. For example, what should be understood as threats? They vary in content. The commentary to article 110 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation indicates that the qualification under the norm in question does not depend on what the perpetrator is threatening. For example, he can talk about causing death or damage to health, disclosing information that the victim wanted to keep secret, divorce, dismissal from work, selection of a minor, deprivation of livelihood, eviction, destruction of property and so on. In case of suicide under the influence of such threats article 110 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation will be used. In this case, judicial practice takes into account not only their content, but also duration and repeatability. In some cases, even minor threats can lead the victim to suicide if they take the form of bullying. At the same time, not every single word uttered, even having a dangerous content, can be considered as a means of encouraging suicide. That is why article 110 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation uses the plural of the word threat. To be held accountable it will not matter how the words are formulated - in writing, orally, anonymously, openly.
Cruel treatment
This is another significant feature, which is called article 110 of the Criminal Code. The elements of a crime can be formed by actions that in themselves act as a criminal offense. For example, it can be torture, intentional harm to health, etc. Illegal placement in a psychiatric hospital, unlawful deprivation of liberty, deprivation of work, food, housing, coercion to sexual intercourse, and violation of other rights of the victim also constitute ill-treatment. Article 110 of the Criminal Code does not require the systematic nature of such acts. Nevertheless, it is important to determine that they really were aimed at bringing the victim to suicide.
Mandatory Elements
Actually, they are directly suicidal or attempted. From that moment, it is believed that the crime is over. A statement about the intention to commit suicide, preparation for it, writing a suicide note will not yet form the composition established in the article in question. To apply the norm, a causal relationship should be established between the behavior of the perpetrator and the consequences in the form of the death of the victim or attempt on her. Moreover, Article 110 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation clearly defines that in order to initiate criminal proceedings, it is necessary that suicide or attempted assassination take place under the influence of ill-treatment, systematic humiliation or threats. If suicide acted as a reaction to lawful actions (for example, with the threat of exposure, bringing to justice), then the considered rule does not apply.
Subjective part
Bringing to suicide can occur in any form of intent. If it was direct, it means that the guilty subject foresaw the likelihood of suicide and wanted the victim to commit suicide. In the case of indirect intent, the offender consciously admits the same result. Criminal liability under this article comes from 16 years. The subject may be a citizen, on whom the victim depends on material, official or other plan, or another person.
The distinction with Art. 105
Some lawyers believe that if there is direct intent, bringing suicide should be considered a murder. This opinion is erroneous. The authors of this position do not take into account the fact that the objective parts of Articles 105 and 110 of the Criminal Code are different. In the case of suicide, unlike murder, the perpetrators do not commit acts that directly cause death. The victim independently decides to end his life and enforces it himself. At the same time, he is guided by his own will and consciousness. Probably and careless bringing to suicide. However, under Art. 24, part 2 of the Code in this case, liability is excluded.
Important point
It was said above about the delimitation of Art. 110 from Art. 105. At the same time, it was pointed out that the actions of the victim committing suicide were conscious. If the tendency to suicide is aimed at a minor or insane, then such an act is qualified by parts 1 or 2 of Art. 105. The same article applies to physically coercing a person to suicide, when the victim is deprived of the opportunity to exercise his own will.
Set of acts
It takes place if an official brought the person to suicide. In addition to Art. 110, part 3 (subsection "c") of Art. 286, establishing liability for abuse of authority with grave consequences. The totality also occurs if suicide or attempted suicide was carried out using actions that form an independent criminal act (torture, extortion, etc.).
Conclusion
It is far from always possible to identify the causes of suicide victims. In this regard, the statistics on criminal cases in this composition is very scarce. In many cases, the victim does not have relatives or close friends who could have any relevant information. As a result, many criminals shun responsibility. This situation creates significant problems for law enforcement agencies. The difficulty, in particular, lies in proving the fact that the victim was committed to suicide, and not consciously and voluntarily passed away.