1. Violation of safety rules when handling microbiological or other biological agents or toxins, if this resulted in harm to human health, the spread of epidemics or epizootics, or other grave consequences, is punishable by a fine in the amount of one hundred thousand to three hundred thousand rubles or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of one to two years, or compulsory work for a period of up to three hundred sixty hours, or correctional labor for a period of up to one year, or forced labor for a period of up to two years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years or without it, or by imprisonment for a term of up to two years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years or without it.
2. The same act, which through negligence resulted in the death of a person, is punishable by compulsory labor for a term of up to four hundred eighty hours, or correctional labor for a term of up to two years, or forced labor for a term of up to five years, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities. for a term of up to three years or without it, or imprisonment for a term of up to five years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years.
Contents of Art. 248 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with comments
Article 248 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation consists of two parts.
The first specifies the penalties used for violation of safety rules when handling microbiological or other agents or toxins, if the result of this act was:
- causing harm to human health (this means serious or moderate damage);
- the spread of epizootics or epidemics ( an epizootic is the mass death of animals due to the spread of an infection or virus, and an epidemic is the same, but among people);
- other negative consequences (high financial and material costs, environmental pollution, etc.).
The second part lists penalties for the same acts, but in the event that they resulted in the death of at least one person due to negligence.
The term “toxin” means any toxic substance that is released by a living organism, regardless of the method of production.
Commentary to Art. 248 Criminal Code
1. The objective side of the crime includes violation of safety rules when handling the objects specified in the article, the consequence in the form of harm to human health, the spread of epidemics or epizootics or other grave consequences and the causal relationship between the act and the resulting consequences.
2. Infliction of harm to human health is expressed in the infliction of grave, moderate or light harm.
An epidemic should be understood as an infectious human disease characterized by a severe course, a high level of mortality and disability, and rapid spread among the population. Epizootic is a mass infectious disease of animals.
Other serious consequences include those that require a long time and large financial and material costs.
3. The subjective side is characterized by intent or negligence. A person can only have a careless attitude towards causing serious harm to a person’s health. Intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm or moderate harm involves a combination of crimes under Art. 248 of the Criminal Code and Art. 111 of the Criminal Code or, accordingly, Art. 112 of the Criminal Code.
4. Special subject of the crime - a person responsible for compliance with safety rules when handling the above items.
Corpus delicti
The subject of the offense is the environment in the totality of all its elements.
The objective side is expressed both in the form of action and inaction.
In the first case, the official or other responsible persons who were authorized to handle toxins knowingly or negligently commit safety violations.
In the second , they simply ignore their implementation or do not specifically engage in their immediate official duties.
The subjective side is characterized by either intent or negligence. The latter is easy to understand from the following example: a laboratory employee carelessly or negligently handled toxins or microorganisms, as a result of which they leaked outside the laboratory.
There may be cases of crime with a complex form of guilt. Let's look at an example. The citizen deliberately violated safety rules regarding the use of toxins, but was indifferent to the fact that this resulted in the death of people or serious harm to their health. There are signs of both indirect intent and negligence, but in general such an act is considered intentional.
Important. The motives and goals of the criminals do not matter for the qualification of the act.
The offenses described in Part 1 and Part 2 of Art. 248 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, belong to the category of crimes of minor gravity, and in Part 3 of the same article - to the category of moderate gravity.
Subjects and objects
The main object of the crime under Art. 248 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – public relations on environmental protection and the ecological situation in the country.
The subject of the crime is an individual without any mental disabilities and over the age of 16, who was allowed to work with toxins and microorganisms. According to judicial practice under Art. 248 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, they are often laboratory employees.
How is it determined
To determine the act, the nature and type of specific toxins or microbiological substances are established , due to the leakage of which animals or people were infected.
It is also established what exactly the consequences of the leak were and for what reasons it occurred (due to the negligence of a laboratory employee or someone did it on purpose).
Evidence
In order to prove the fact of criminal acts, toxin tests are carried out. Their results are included in the case materials.
A cause-and-effect relationship is also established between the actual leakage of microorganisms and the onset of such negative consequences as the spread of dangerous viruses and infections among animals or people.
Commentary on Article 248
1. This article practically reproduces the norm of Art. 222(1) of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR “Violation of safety rules when handling microbiological or other biological agents and toxins.” The purpose of this standard is to ensure compliance with safety rules when handling a potentially dangerous class of substances (organisms).
2. The subject of this crime is microbiological or other biological agents and toxins, i.e. microorganisms and complex protein compounds of bacterial, plant or animal origin, capable of causing disease or death when they enter or come into contact with human or animal organisms.
3. The objective side of the crime is the violation of safety rules when handling microbiological and other biological agents and toxins, the consequences and the causal relationship between the violation of the rules and the consequences.
4. Rules for handling microbiological or other biological agents and toxins and safety requirements are contained in numerous regulations. The range of normative sources of these rules is very wide, and identifying the rules for performing certain techniques and methods involved in handling individual agents and toxins in a particular area of human activity requires the help of a specialist (see also paragraphs 13, 14, 16 of the commentary to Art. 247).
5. Handling microbiological or other biological agents and toxins includes the processes of their production (manufacturing, growing), storage, transportation, industrial, scientific and other use, destruction, neutralization and other processes that may be associated with changes in the properties of these substances (organisms) ), accompany transactions with them and otherwise have them as their subject.
6. Violation of safety rules can consist of action or inaction. Action includes using improper measurement and control methods when handling agents and toxins, moving them using improper storage and protection methods, changing temperature and other production and storage conditions, using said agents and toxins to conduct unauthorized experiments, etc. Inaction consists of failure to comply safety rules establishing the necessity, obligation and sequence of certain handling and control actions.
7. The consequence of this crime can be harm to human health of any severity.
8. An epidemic, the spread of which is a consequence of this crime, is understood as the rapid and continuous spread of an infectious disease within a certain population group and a certain region. The most dangerous form is a pandemic, i.e. an epidemic that covers the vast majority of the world (for example, influenza).
9. An epizootic is understood as the simultaneous spread of a disease among a large number of animals (both domestic and wild) of one or more species over a large area.
10. Other serious consequences can be expressed in the mass death of wild or domestic animals (in the absence of an epizootic), the emergence and spread of epiphytoty, i.e., an infectious plant disease covering certain regions, a country, etc.
11. A causal relationship between a violation of safety rules and the resulting consequences means that the harmful consequences occurred from an established violation of safety rules when handling biological agents and toxins, and not as a result of other factors, including natural ones.
12. This crime is considered completed from the moment of occurrence of any of the specified consequences harmful to human health or the environment.
13. The subject of this crime is a person who has reached the age of 16, who, by special regulations or law enforcement acts, is charged with ensuring and complying with safety rules when handling microbiological or other biological agents and toxins in the chemical, medical, pharmaceutical, food, agricultural, scientific and other areas of activity.
14. The subjective side consists in the presence of indirect intent, and in relation to the consequence of a crime in the form of the death of a person - in the presence of two forms of guilt, implying intent in relation to violation of safety rules and negligence in relation to grave consequences.
Scientific and practical commentary:
1. The social danger of the crime in question is that the violation by medical, pharmaceutical, scientific research and other organizations and institutions, including those involved in genetic engineering, of safety rules when obtaining, growing, transforming and using microorganisms, toxins, their fragments, etc. .d. can lead not only to epidemics and epizootics, but also to a pandemic, causing irreparable harm to the natural environment. 2. The object of the crime is environmental safety, an additional one is health relations. The subject of the crime are microbiological and other biological agents, as well as toxins. Microbiological and biological agents are microorganisms and living organisms that have pathogenic effects. Toxins are toxic substances, waste products of microorganisms. They are divided into exotoxins (protein products that are released by bacteria into the environment) and endotoxins (structural components of bacteria that enter the environment after the destruction of bacterial cells). 3. The objective side of the crime is characterized by a violation of safety rules when handling those specified in Art. 248 of the Criminal Code with objects. These rules are contained in numerous regulations (for example, Federal Law of 07/05/96 N 86-FZ “On state regulation in the field of genetic engineering activities” <1>). ——————————— <1> NW RF. 1996. N 28. Art. 3348.
4. A mandatory element of a crime is consequences in the form of an epidemic, epizootic or other grave consequences. An epidemic refers to cases of an infectious mass disease of a certain group of the population or a certain region; an epizootic is the simultaneous spread of a disease among a large number of wild or domestic animals of one or more species over a large territory. Other serious consequences may include both material harm associated with expensive disinfection work, destruction of contaminated property or emerging outbreaks of disease, relocation of the population, treatment of people, cessation of the activities of enterprises and organizations, etc., and the spread of epitophytoty - a mass infectious plant disease covering individual regions of one country or several countries. 5. The crime in question has a material composition, therefore it is considered completed from the moment the consequences specified in the law occur. 6. The subjective side is characterized by both intentional and careless forms of guilt. 7. Special subject of a crime - a person who is entrusted with the obligation to comply with safety rules when handling microbiological or other biological agents or toxins. 8. According to Part 2 of Art. 248 of the Criminal Code punishes more severely a violation of these rules that results in the death of a person through negligence.
Responsibility measures
If the offense was determined under Part 1 of Art. 248 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation , the following punishments are imposed:
- a fine in the amount of 100,000 to 300,000 rubles. or salary for 1-2 years;
- compulsory work for 360 hours;
- corrective labor for a year;
- forced labor for 2 years with a ban on certain types of activities for 3 years (the last sanction is optional);
- imprisonment for the same period using the above sanction.
If the act is qualified under Part 2 of Art. 248 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the following penalties are selected:
- compulsory work for 480 hours;
- correctional labor for 2 years;
- forced labor for 5 years with a ban on holding certain positions for 3 years (the sanction is assigned at the discretion of the judge);
- imprisonment in a colony for the same period with the application of the above-mentioned sanction.
Sentence under Art. 248 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is issued by the court after the case has been considered, including all its circumstances.
Related crime under Art. 6.3 Code of Administrative Offenses - what is the difference
According to its structure, the offense described in Art.
248 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, similar to what is described in Art. 6.3 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. The difference between them lies in the objective side of the actions.
In the first case, punishments are imposed for violations of safety regulations when using toxins, and in the second , for violations of regulations in the field of ensuring the sanitary well-being of the population.
Another distinctive feature is the consequences of crimes. They will be classified as criminal in the event of death, serious harm to their health, or the spread of epizootics or epidemics. If there were no such results, then they are classified as administrative.
