CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR REMAINING A MILITARY SERVICEMAN IN DANGER UNDER MARTIAL LAW

Abstract

The article substantiates that Chapter XIX of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of Ukraine does not contain a separate special norm that would provide for responsibility for leaving in danger during or after combat a serviceman who is in a life-threatening condition and is deprived of the opportunity to take measures for self-preservation due to a helpless state. For such actions, the culprit is subject to criminal liability according to the general norm – Art 135 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The general duties of servicemen include helping other servicemen who are in danger, and the duties of commanders include responsibility for preserving the lives of personnel. The professional duty to provide assistance to a serviceman who is in a life-threatening condition, during or after combat, rests, in particular, on medical workers serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. A person’s attitude to leaving a serviceman in danger in the considered act can be expressed exclusively in the form of direct intent, and in the form of carelessness towards the consequences. The objective side of the researched type of abandonment in danger is characterized by a socially dangerous act (Part 1 of Article 135 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) or by a socially dangerous act, socially dangerous consequences and a causal connection between them (Part 3 of Article 135 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The increased degree of public danger of leaving a serviceman in a life-threatening condition during or after combat determines the feasibility of criminalizing this act. Part 3 of Art. 135 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine should be worded as follows: «Actions provided for by parts one or two of this article, if they caused the death of a person or other serious consequences, or were committed against a serviceman during or after combat under martial law».