Not intentional grievous bodily harm, but exceeding the necessary defense

Causing grievous bodily harm is the most socially dangerous crime from the line of offenses for causing harm in general. At the same time, this is the most serious act.

Let us further consider what is considered grievous harm and how many years a person can be imprisoned for an attempt against person and life and causing injury, which are classified as grievous harm.

What is serious harm to health, according to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation?

In accordance with Article 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, grave crimes include acts committed intentionally and carelessly, the punishment for which does not exceed 10 and 15 years of imprisonment, respectively.

Serious crimes, due to their danger, are on the second line of the criminal hierarchy after especially serious ones and are punished accordingly quite severely. Such offenses include: skilled theft, robbery, robbery, causing grievous bodily harm (abbr. PTVZ) and others.

Aggravating circumstances

Aggravating circumstances are:

• planning to cause harm to the victim, if the fact of intent is proven;
• if actions that resulted in harm to health of moderate severity were committed by a group of criminals and the fact of conspiracy was proven;
• if the crime was of a racial or hooligan nature;
• if the criminal or criminals committed the crime under the influence of alcohol or drugs;
• if the victim is a minor or a person with limited abilities (disabled person);
• if the offender has repeatedly committed such violations;
• in the case of the use of weapons and improvised means that aggravated the harm of the crime for the victim.

What is considered grievous bodily harm?

The concept of grievous bodily harm was previously enshrined in the Russian Criminal Code until 1995 (Article 108). Many people continue to call this composition that way in the old fashioned way.

The modern Criminal Code in Article 111 provides for liability for intentionally causing grievous bodily harm. Let's take a closer look at the grave consequences in criminal law.

The criteria for qualifying signs of causing grievous bodily harm (GHH) to a person are:

1. Harm that is life-threatening, creating an immediate threat to life, which includes:
   head wounds with damage to the skull;
2. various fractures of the skull bones;
3. intracranial injuries;
4. wounds and damage to internal organs (tears, cuts, ruptures, etc.);
5. penetrating wounds of the chest and abdominal cavities (even without damage to internal organs);
6. and about 10 more positions of damage.
7. Dangerous harm to health, causing the development of a life-threatening condition:
   severe shocks;
8. severe comas;
9. massive, acute blood loss;
10. respiratory, cardiac, renal failure of severe degrees;
11. sepsis and peritonitis;
12. other conditions.
13. A person’s loss of vision, speech, hearing or any organ or the loss of an organ’s functions (loss of legs, arms, testicles, genitals).
14. Abortion.
15. Mental disorder.
16. Drug addiction or substance abuse.
17. Permanent facial disfigurement.
18. Significant persistent loss of general ability to work by at least one third.
19. Complete loss of professional ability to work (for example, the hand of an artist or the leg of a professional football player was cut off).

An exhaustive list of criteria is set out in the Appendix to the Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation dated April 24, 2008 N 194, issued on the basis of Resolution No. 522 of 2007.

Nature of the consequences

Mortality:

• harm incompatible with life;
• irreparable harm;
• reparable harm.

Severity:

• light;
• average;
• heavy.

Nature of the consequences:

• physical trauma;
• moral injury;
• combined injury. Basically, the victim receives it when he/she harms himself/herself. This case can be attributed to a preventive disorder that resulted in damage, that is, mental instability of the individual.

Signs, composition and qualification of intentional infliction

Article 111 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in its structure represents a complex composition or a composition with two forms of guilt for causing severe bodily harm (the presence of part 4 in the article with careless causing of death), in general the crime is considered intentional.

• The object of the crime is public relations related to the protection of the life and health of a citizen.
• The subject is a sane person who has reached the age of fourteen.
• The subjective side reflects the presence of intent in general and negligence for the qualified fourth part.
• The objective side is the act of a person with criminal intent aimed at causing bodily harm to another person, the consequences in the form of grievous harm and the existence of a causal connection between the act and the consequences.

The article consists of four parts. The first is the main composition and three parts with qualifying characteristics.

PTVZ with qualifying criteria can be committed:

• in connection with an official or public duty performed by a person;
• in relation to a minor, helpless person, with particular cruelty, mockery, torment of the victim;
• in a generally dangerous manner;
• for hire;
• for hooligan reasons;
• motives of political, religious and racial hostility;
• for the purposes of using human organs;
• use of weapons or objects;
• two or more victims;
• in a group organized by a group of persons or by prior conspiracy.

Part four, as a qualification, provides for the unintentional death of a person from the injuries caused. This is the most serious sign in this composition, although in its essence it is careless.

Establishing intent

If the harm was caused through negligence, the perpetrator will not be held accountable.

Example 1:

Citizen K. was returning home when an unknown man came out to meet him. The oncoming person, being in a state of alcoholic intoxication, started a conflict. Angered by Citizen K.’s inaction, the stranger struck him in the face once with his fist. The expert concluded that the injuries were of minor severity and, based on the circumstances of the damage, the actions of the attacker were qualified under Art. 115 of the Criminal Code.

Example 2:

Citizen O. went to the skating rink, where she and other visitors went ice skating. A girl was driving by, but she could not resist and began to fall. During the fall, she swung her hand and hit Citizen O. in the cheek area. An abrasion formed at the site of the impact. No punishment will be applied since the event was accidental.

Punishment for intentionally causing grievous bodily harm

The heavier and more dangerous the offenses are, the more severe and severe the punishment for their commission. But before pointing out responsibility, you need to know:

From what age does it begin?

Responsibility for all articles providing for PTVZ begins at the age of 14. As a rule, for committing a crime under Article 111 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, courts sentence people to real and long terms of serving the sentence.

What articles provide for criminal liability?

Several elements of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation are charged with causing grievous bodily harm - these are articles 111, 113, 114, 118.

Only one of the above is intentional – the provisions of Article 111. The rest are careless in terms of consequences.

A detailed description of Article 118 (causing grievous harm through negligence) can be read here.

What is the sentence for causing grievous bodily harm?

Below in the table we present the types of punishments and terms.

As can be seen from the table above, the most lenient penalties can be obtained when charged under Article 114, then 113, and the most severe measures are actual imprisonment from 8 to 15 years, depending on the part of Article 111 for intentionally causing grievous bodily harm.

Arbitrage practice

In August 2021, in the evening in the city of Vladimir, a local resident drank alcoholic beverages with a group of friends. Among them was the victim: a conflict arose between him and the accused, which soon provoked a fight. People nearby called an ambulance, and doctors hospitalized the victim, revealing incised wounds to his lumbar region. The man was found to have damage to his left kidney, which subsequently had to be removed.

The accused admitted his guilt. The court established the following punishment: imprisonment for 2 years.

Another case occurred in Murom in January 2021. The accused was a teenager who was 16 years old at the time. He was drunk at the time of the crime. Together with his three friends, he beat up a stranger using a screwdriver. The victim suffered moderate to severe damage to his health. Earlier, the same teenager tried to steal a car radio, causing significant damage to a stranger’s car, but the owner of the car appeared and prevented the theft.

The court sentenced him to 4 years' imprisonment in a correctional colony.

How to prosecute a person responsible for grievous bodily harm?

In accordance with parts 1, 5 of Article 20 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the crimes we are considering are cases of public prosecution.

This means that in order to initiate a criminal case a statement from the victim is not required ; the case is initiated by the investigative body upon the commission of a criminal act.

Victims who suffer serious harm to their health most likely end up in a hospital bed. Law enforcement agencies will learn about this fact within the first hours of going to the hospital. The victim will be immediately interviewed in writing and a referral for examination for the appropriate doctor.

To bring the perpetrator to justice, you need to remember all the circumstances of what happened and tell the investigator about everything in detail.

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Dmitry Konstantinovich

Expert of the site "Legal Consultant"

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If possible, you should involve a lawyer in the case as a representative of your interests during the investigation and in court. He does not need to prove the person’s involvement in the commission of a crime; establishing his guilt is the job of internal affairs officers. A lawyer in the case is necessary, first of all, to collect additional documents necessary for further recovery from the perpetrator of compensation for the harm caused.

If your friends were present when you were injured, it is necessary to convince them to also give evidence necessary for the investigation. Undergo a full forensic medical examination, tell in detail about the existing injuries and painful conditions to the medical examiner. This is where the role of the victim in helping to bring the perpetrator to justice should end.

Investigators are mostly professionals in their field and they know very well how to bring a case to trial.

Determination of severity

Doctors are invited to determine the severity of the damage caused to the victim’s health. They conduct a medical examination, after which they determine the severity of the harm.

The object of a forensic medical examination is a person or a corpse, if the victim has died, as well as medical documents and case materials. It is necessary that the medical documents are authentic and contain all the information about the nature of the injuries, their course, and other data required to organize the examination.

The expert has the right to draw up a petition requiring the preparation of additional materials. As soon as they are received, the examination resumes.

If necessary, other specialists may be involved in the examination - for example, psychiatrists, narcologists, toxicologists, obstetricians-gynecologists. If the victim’s face is disfigured, the severity of the damage to well-being is determined by the court.