According to current legal norms, not every criminal act receives a fair punishment. Sometimes a person, due to the peculiarities of his psychological state, cannot answer to the law, like all other citizens. It should be noted right away that the topic discussed in this article is one of the most controversial in criminal law. Below we will discuss the concept and criteria of insanity, all the main legal provisions and explanations of the legislator regarding criminal liability for insane people, the main established criteria for this “selection,” and we will also tell you why these provisions are so contradictory.
If the fact of insanity is established, a person is not subject to criminal liability.
Concept
The concept of insanity is explained in Article 21 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and it looks like this:
A person who, at the time of committing a socially dangerous act, was in a state of insanity, that is, could not realize the actual nature and social danger of his actions (inaction) or control them due to a chronic mental disorder, temporary mental disorder, dementia or other painful condition, is not subject to criminal liability. psyche.
As you can see, the legislator has identified 4 main criteria for determining a person’s condition in which he does not control his actions and is exempt from criminal liability:
- Chronic mental disorder. It is worth noting that the definition of this term varies to some extent depending on the scope of the law. In jurisprudence, this disease is defined as established processes of mental disorder, including in the form of attacks, in which the subject does not control and is not responsible for his actions, as a result of which he cannot answer for them before the law. For example, these diseases can be: epilepsy, schizophrenia, psychosis.
- Temporary mental disorder. Temporary disorders do not include the above-mentioned disorders that occur in the form of an attack; in this case, they mean temporary diseases that can result in the subject’s recovery, arising from the use of certain drugs and substances or against the background of strong emotional experiences and/or shocks. This includes a disease that is quite common among alcohol drinkers, such as “delirium tremens” or “delirium tremens”, and is more popularly known as “squirrel”.
This disease is characterized by “ominous” hallucinations that can lead to harm not only to oneself, but also to others. Unfortunately, in our country, especially in those areas that are significantly removed from cities, such diseases and crimes committed against the background of them are not uncommon. Who is to blame for this, the people themselves, their way of life or the state - this is a question for a completely different story.
- Dementia. This disease is better known as “intellectual disability” or “mental retardation.” There are two main types:
- congenital;
- acquired.
Congenital pathologies of the brain lead to disturbances in the functioning of thought processes, the manifestation of emotions, character, and speech. In fact, these people are almost completely socially maladjusted.
Acquired dementia – it also has the concept of “dementia”, accordingly, is acquired in nature, due to neglect in learning in infancy or as a result of brain damage. The main risk group is elderly people in whom acquired dementia is in the form of senile dementia.
- Another painful mental state. This term was introduced to increase the coverage of existing diseases that fit the above criteria and, in fact, this allows us not to limit this list.
Features of examinations
Insanity is determined exclusively by the court, for which the conclusion of an examination conducted by a psychiatrist or a commission consisting of doctors is used.
The examination is ordered by the investigator or the court.
Scheme of legal insanity.
How is the examination carried out?
During this process, information related to a person’s mental state is studied, and it is also determined whether he is aware of his essence, actions and consequences of actions.
It is determined whether the person needs to be treated forcibly, whether he can testify in court or perform similar actions.
Concept of due diligence
It is prescribed if it is necessary to fully examine a person’s personality.
Based on the results of such a study, a conclusion is issued that describes the citizen’s condition.
Based on this conclusion, a court decision is made regarding the opinions of numerous experts taking part in the examination. However, this document itself is only advisory.
In criminal law
These circumstances described above mainly relate to the medical field; for jurisprudence, it is most important to understand how they affect the control of one’s behavior and possible value judgments, i.e., a banal understanding of what is good and what is bad. In Part 1 of Art. 21 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, you should pay attention to the following words:
that is, he could not realize the actual nature and social danger of his actions (inaction) or manage them
– in this excerpt from the article it is clear that the signs are separated by the word “or”, which allows them to be called independent meanings.
Why this is so important should be illustrated with examples.
Citizen “A” suffers from epileptic seizures, which she cannot control even if she wants to.
At the same time, she is fully aware that during such attacks she can harm both herself and others, but she cannot manage them or direct them in a neutral direction, which, in essence, makes her socially dangerous to others.
20-year-old citizen “B” is a carrier of such a disease as “dementia”, and due to the disease, the level of his mental and social development is equal to the development of a five-year-old child. But physical development corresponds to 20 years of age. Accordingly, a five-year-old child can already control most of his actions, but he is not aware of some of them at all or does not realize and does not analyze their possible consequences. And in this example, citizen “B”, seeing a kitchen knife on the table, decided to play with it and threw this knife at his father, which led to his death. Citizen “B” saw a similar scene in the film, and he found it funny, since he watched the film with his father, who reacted to it with laughter. According to this example, citizen “B” could have controlled his actions and not thrown the knife or thrown the knife with less force, but since he was not aware of the consequences of his throw, he did not do this.
In judicial practice, there are often cases when such citizens are used for their own selfish purposes.
For example. Citizen Ivanov was the brother and guardian of 18-year-old citizen “B”, who had dementia. They lived with their grandmother in her apartment. They had no other relatives. Ivanov, trying to inherit this very apartment, decides to kill his grandmother, but not with his own hands, but using the ward. One evening, when the grandmother was taking a bath, Ivanov persuaded citizen “B” to play a “prank” on the grandmother, and while she was taking a bath, “B” had to turn off her light and throw a bare wire connected to the socket into the water. Ivanov explained this as just a funny prank, which, due to his existing illness, did not arouse suspicion among citizen “B”.
Perhaps the example given is quite ambiguous, but it is an excerpt from a real trial.
How can you prove that a deceased person was insane?
Often people want to challenge the will of a person who has already died, wanting to admit that he was insane at the time of the formation of this document.
Watch how forensic experts conduct an examination in this video:
To prove this fact, different methods can be used:
- conducting a posthumous psychological examination, and during its implementation, all data regarding the presence of diseases in the deceased person for the period when he was preparing the will are revealed;
- it is determined what medications the person has taken and their side effects are assessed;
- the medical record of the deceased is studied, which contains information about his condition and existing diseases;
- testimony from relatives and neighbors regarding the citizen’s behavior during his lifetime;
- certificates received from various medical organizations where the person was treated or registered.
Based on the results of the analysis of the health of the deceased person, a conclusion is drawn up, which indicates whether he might have had any mental disorders, due to which he inadequately distributed his values when drawing up a will.
Responsibility
It should be understood that the court considers the state of insanity directly within the framework of the committed act. Since an insane person can control and/or be aware of some of his actions and their consequences, for example, the consequences of firing a pistol or throwing a knife, but not others, for example, violating the rules for the stable operation of railway transport. In this regard, in order to make a fair decision, a mandatory forensic medical examination is required in accordance with paragraph “3” of Art. 196 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation:
The appointment and conduct of a forensic examination is mandatory if it is necessary to establish the mental or physical state of a suspect or accused, when doubt arises about his sanity or ability to independently defend his rights and legitimate interests in criminal proceedings.
Based on the results of this examination and its own judgments obtained during the trial, the court may release an insane person from criminal liability and punishment, or, applying the provisions of Part 2 of Art. 21 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Part 2 of Art. 300 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, Art. 99 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Art. 433 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, impose compulsory measures of a medical nature (abbreviated PMMH), that is, compulsory treatment.
Sanity criteria
The legislation does not have a clear definition of sanity, but it is taken into account that a person who has the necessary parameters can answer before the law:
- reaching adulthood;
- presence of the required level of psychological and mental maturity;
- aware of his actions and actions;
- fully in charge of his actions;
- controlling behavior;
- showing will and consciousness.
Important! A person is considered sane if all of the above signs are present in him.
What is legal insanity? Watch in this video:
Application to minors
Separately, it should be said about the application of these norms to minors. In Part 3 of Art. 20 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation states that:
If a minor has reached the age provided for in parts one (minimum threshold of 16 years) or two of this article (14 years in the order of committing a grave and especially grave crime), but due to a lag in mental development not associated with a mental disorder, during the commission of a socially dangerous crime act could not fully understand the actual nature and social danger of his actions (inaction) or direct them, he is not subject to criminal liability.
In this case, we are talking about a minor’s mental retardation, that is, when the level of intelligence does not correspond to the real age.
- There can be many reasons for this condition, and they are associated with disruption and/weakening of the brain, for example:
- infection;
- somatic diseases;
- intoxication;
- brain injury;
- pedagogical and social neglect.
Wills and insanity
A will is an important document in which a person indicates to whom exactly his property will go after death. Often the information in it does not correspond to the wishes of other people counting on an inheritance, so they try in different ways to invalidate the document.
The most common reason for this is the recognition of the testator as insane at the time of drawing up the document. In this case, the document is invalidated, so the property is then distributed among the people who are the legal heirs.
