ST 215 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
1. Violation of safety rules during the siting, design, construction and operation of nuclear energy facilities, if this could lead to the death of a person or radioactive contamination of the environment, is punishable by a fine in the amount of up to two hundred thousand rubles or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period up to eighteen months, or restriction of liberty for a term of up to three years, or forced labor for a term of up to three 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 the same term with deprivation of the right to occupy certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of up to three years or without it.
2. The same act, which through negligence resulted in the infliction of serious harm to health or the death of a person or radioactive contamination of the environment, is punishable by forced labor for a term of up to five years with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years, or imprisonment for a term of up to five years with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years.
3. An act provided for in the first part of this article, resulting in the death of two or more persons through negligence, is punishable by 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 by imprisonment for up to five years. for a term of up to seven years with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of up to three years.
Commentary to Art. 215 Criminal Code
1. The objective side is characterized by an act in the form of action or inaction, constituting a violation of safety rules during the siting, design, construction and operation of nuclear energy facilities. The disposition of the article is blanket and requires reference to the Federal Law of October 20, 1995 N 170-FZ “On the Use of Atomic Energy” and the regulatory legal acts adopted on its basis.
2. A mandatory feature of the objective party is the place where the crime was committed - a nuclear power facility.
3. A crime formulated in the law as a component of real danger is completed at the moment of creation of a real threat of human death or radioactive contamination of the environment.
Commentary on Article 215 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
1. The public danger of a crime is to undermine the public security of Russia, the threat of human death or radioactive contamination of the environment, causing death to a person, environmental pollution, or the occurrence of other grave consequences (serious harm to human health, death of two or more persons).
The main elements of the crime are described in Part 1 of the comment. articles and reveals socially dangerous acts included in the category of minor crimes. The qualified corpus delicti is reflected in Part 2 and expresses acts included in the category of crimes of medium gravity. A particularly qualified composition is enshrined in Part 3 and reveals intentional acts related to serious crimes and careless acts included in the category of crimes of moderate gravity.
2. The main object of criminal encroachment is public safety, regulated by safety rules for the placement, construction and operation of nuclear energy facilities, ensuring the protection of the life and health of people and their natural environment. Optional objects: human life and health, human and animal habitats, viability of environmental protection objects, property relations.
3. The objective side of the crime is expressed in the form of both action and inaction, which indicate a violation of safety rules during the placement, design, construction and operation of nuclear energy facilities, if this could lead to the death of a person or radioactive contamination of the environment (Part 1) or caused through negligence the specified consequences or causing serious harm to human health (Part 2), as well as the death of two or more persons (Part 3). Active criminal behavior is possible, for example, when an official allows an employee to work at a nuclear installation who has medical contraindications for working at the specified facility, or when operating a nuclear installation that has not passed the examination of Gosatomnadzor of Russia, which led to the creation of a danger of radioactive contamination of the environment. Passive criminal behavior occurs, for example, when creating a threat of radioactive contamination of the environment due to an employee leaving the duty shift of a nuclear installation without permission (failure to fulfill his duties). Both the first and second examples indicate a gross violation of established safety rules, which creates the threat of material, socially dangerous consequences and elevates the act to the category of crimes.
4. Violation of safety rules at nuclear energy facilities can only occur if it is associated with the following types of activities: a) placement; b) design; c) construction; d) operation of nuclear energy facilities.
4.1. For the location of nuclear energy facilities, see paragraph 8.5 of the commentary. to Art. 246.
4.2. For the design of nuclear power facilities, see paragraph 8.1 of the commentary. to Art. 246.
4.3. For the construction of nuclear energy facilities, see paragraph 8.6 of the commentary. to Art. 246.
4.4. Operation of nuclear energy facilities is the use of the facility for its intended purpose.
5. Mandatory features of the objective side of the crime are the means of committing the crime, which include nuclear energy facilities.
5.1. Nuclear energy facilities are: a) nuclear installations - structures and complexes with nuclear reactors, including nuclear plants, ships and other watercraft, space and aircraft, other transport and transportable means; structures and complexes with industrial, experimental and research nuclear reactors, critical and subcritical nuclear test facilities; structures, complexes, testing grounds, installations and devices with nuclear charges for peaceful purposes; other structures, complexes, installations containing nuclear materials for the production, use, processing, transportation of nuclear fuel and nuclear materials; b) radiation sources - complexes, installations, apparatus, equipment and products not related to nuclear installations, which contain radioactive substances or generate ionizing radiation; storage facilities for nuclear materials and radioactive substances, radioactive waste storage facilities - stationary facilities and structures not related to nuclear installations and radiation sources, intended for the storage of nuclear materials and radioactive substances, storage or disposal of radioactive waste (Article 3 of the Federal Law of November 21, 1995 N 170 -FZ “On the use of atomic energy” (as amended on December 18, 2006) <1>). ——————————— <1> NW RF. 1995. N 48. Art. 4552; 1997. N 7. Art. 808; 2001. N 29. Art. 2949; 2002. N 1 (part 1). Art. 2, N 13. Art. 1180; 2003. N 46 (part 1). Art. 4436; 2004. N 35. Art. 3607; 2006. N 52 (part 1). Art. 5498.
5.2. For nuclear materials, see paragraph 3.1 of the comment. to Art. 220.
6. The disposition of the article has a reference-blanket nature, since in order to properly qualify a socially dangerous act as a crime, it refers the law enforcement officer to other laws and by-laws. Among these are: Federal Law “On the Use of Atomic Energy”; Sanitary and epidemiological rules and standards SanPiN 2.6.1.07-03 “Hygienic requirements for the design of nuclear industry enterprises and installations” (SPP PUAP-03), approved. Resolution of the Chief State Sanitary Doctor of the Russian Federation dated 02/04/2003 N 6 (as amended on 05/15/2003) <1>; Charter on discipline of employees of organizations with particularly hazardous production in the field of atomic energy use, approved. Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of July 10, 1998 N 744 <2>; Rules for making decisions on the placement and construction of nuclear installations, radiation sources and storage facilities, approved. Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated March 14, 1997 N 306 (as amended on February 1, 2005) <3>; Rules for the physical protection of nuclear materials, nuclear installations and storage facilities for nuclear materials, approved. Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 03/07/1997 N 264 (as amended on 08/08/2003) <4>; Basic provisions for the preparation, consideration and decision-making on changes to design, engineering, technological and operational documentation affecting nuclear and radiation safety, approved. By Order of the Gosatomnadzor of Russia dated August 26, 1994 N 102 <5>; Regulations on the organization and conduct of examination of design and other materials and documentation justifying the safety of nuclear and radiation hazardous objects (products) and production (technologies), approved. Order of the Gosatomnadzor of Russia dated 04/07/1994 N 41 <6>, and other standards in the field of the use of atomic energy, including in the field of environmental and other legislation of the Russian Federation. ——————————— <1> BNA. 2003. N 25; RG. N 100. 2003.
<2> Northwestern Russian Federation. 1998. N 29. Art. 3557.
<3> Northwestern Russian Federation. 1997. N 12. Art. 1442; 2005. N 7. Art. 560.
<4> Northwestern Russian Federation. 1997. N 11. Art. 1317; 1998. N 32. Art. 3910; 2003. N 33. Art. 3270.
<5> RV. 1994. N 194.
<6> RV. 1994. N 76.
7. According to the legislative structure, the corpus delicti provided for in Part 1 of the comment. article is formal. The crime is completed (by composition) at the moment of the commission of the act, which created a real threat of causing death to at least one person or radioactive contamination of the environment. Here, to qualify a socially dangerous act as a completed crime, it is sufficient to carry out the act; there is no need to wait for the onset of any material socially dangerous consequences.
8. The corpus delicti provided for in Part 2 of the comment. article, has a material legislative structure. The crime is completed (by composition) at the moment of the onset of socially dangerous consequences due to negligence in the form of: a) serious harm to human health; b) death of a person; c) radioactive contamination of the environment.
8.1. For serious harm to human health, see comment. to Art. 111.
8.2. For the death of a person, see paragraph 11.2 of the commentary. to Art. 247.
8.3. For radioactive contamination of the environment, see paragraph 10.7 of the commentary. to Art. 247, for example, the spread of radioactive contamination beyond the protected zone of a nuclear power facility (an area with limited access, surrounded by physical barriers and under constant protection and surveillance) - into the atmosphere, water body, and soil.
9. The corpus delicti set forth in Part 3 of the comment. article is material. The crime is completed (by composition) at the moment of the death of two or more persons due to negligence.
10. When qualifying a violation of safety rules at nuclear energy facilities as a crime, it is necessary to establish and indicate a specific point of these rules, the violation of which could lead to the death of a person or radioactive contamination of the environment or entail the specified or other grave consequences.
11. The subjective side of the crime is characterized by guilt in the form of intent or negligence. In the first case, the person is aware that he is violating safety rules at a nuclear power facility, foresees the possibility of human death, radioactive contamination of the environment or other serious consequences, and although he does not want to, he consciously allows these consequences to occur or is indifferent to them. The desire of the perpetrators for these consequences to occur must be additionally qualified under the relevant article, which provides for criminal penalties for a crime against a person, property, etc. In the second case, the behavior of the guilty person is characterized by criminal frivolity or negligence.
11.1. It is possible that the culprit has a mental attitude towards the committed criminal act with two forms of guilt, for example, if he deliberately violates safety rules, which endangers the life of another person, and at the same time does not foresee the possibility of the death of this person, although with the necessary care and forethought should and could have foreseen this socially dangerous consequence.
11.2. In some cases, the subjective side may be characterized by a mixture of administrative and criminal guilt, for example, in the case of a deliberate violation by an official of safety rules provided for in Art. 9.6 of the Code of Administrative Offences, which developed into a crime due to the onset of radioactive contamination of the environment due to negligence.
12. The subject of a criminal offense is a sane individual who has reached the age of 16 at the time of its commission and is endowed with an additional attribute - responsibility in the service for compliance with safety rules during the placement, design, construction, and operation of nuclear energy facilities. These may include officials and other persons responsible for compliance with safety rules (engineers and their deputies, heads of departments (divisions, sections, laboratories, workshops), ship captains (their backups, assistants), mechanics, scientists, operators, other specialists).
12.1. Officials who did not monitor compliance with safety rules at nuclear energy facilities, if there is a threat of the onset or occurrence of socially dangerous consequences specified in the disposition of the article, may be brought to justice under Art. 293. If a violation of safety rules is committed by a person not responsible for compliance with these rules, and serious harm to health or death of a person occurs, then the act must be qualified as a crime against the person.
13. Victims of a crime can be both employees of nuclear energy facilities and other persons not related to these facilities.
14. In addition to the fact that a criminal violation of safety rules at nuclear energy facilities (Article 215) differs from a criminal violation of environmental protection rules during work (Article 246) by the specific object of the criminal encroachment, also in the first case, a violation of the rules can cause material socially dangerous the consequences or threat of their occurrence inside an enterprise, institution, organization, or other nuclear energy facility, therefore radioactive contamination of open space may not occur; in the second case, the change in the radioactive background affects the natural environment.
Second commentary to Art. 215 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
1. The objective side is characterized by an act in the form of inaction, which constitutes a violation of specific safety rules during the siting, design, construction and operation of nuclear energy facilities. Placing a nuclear energy facility means identifying a specific area of terrain and distributing the elements of this facility on it. Design is a set of technological procedures for the development and approval of a nuclear power project. Construction means either the creation of a nuclear energy facility, or the transformation of an existing facility with the connection of communications that ensure its functioning. Operation means using a nuclear power facility for its intended purpose (for example, putting into operation faulty equipment of a nuclear installation). The concept of operation also covers compliance with safety rules during repair work at nuclear power facilities. The circumstances of the crime scene are nuclear energy facilities: nuclear installations, radiation sources, storage facilities for nuclear materials and radioactive substances, radioactive waste storage facilities.
To recognize the crime as completed, it is necessary to establish that the violation of the relevant rules created a real threat of human death or radioactive contamination of the environment.
Radioactive contamination of the environment is a change in the radioactive background that is dangerous to human health and genetic makeup.
2. The subjective side is characterized by a careless form of guilt.
3. The subject of the crime is a special one: a person who had the obligation to comply with safety rules when locating, designing, constructing or operating nuclear energy facilities.
4. If a violation of safety rules at nuclear power facilities negligently results in the infliction of serious harm to human health or radioactive contamination of the environment, liability arises under Part 2 of Art. 215. In this case, the crime is considered completed from the moment the specified consequences occur.
In Part 3 of Art. 215 establishes liability for violation of rules that negligently resulted in the death of two or more persons.
Judicial practice under Article 215 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
Determination of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated 07/08/2021 N 1373-O
The criminal law establishes a system of special norms aimed at ensuring safety in certain areas of life, characterized by increased requirements for the behavior of subjects (in particular, articles 143, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 236, 247, 263, 264, 268, 350 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In such relations, their participants act as special subjects called upon to comply with a set of rules that ensure both individual safety and the general security of life and health of a wide (indefinite) circle of people. Failure to comply (violate) the requirements of special norms in itself creates a danger of causing harm to the life and health of people and other objects of criminal legal protection.
Determination of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated December 14, 2021 N 2649-O
3. The criminal law has a system of special norms aimed at ensuring safety in certain areas of life, characterized by increased requirements for the behavior of subjects (in particular, articles 143, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 236, 247, 263, 264, 268 and 350 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In such relations, their participants act as special subjects called upon to comply with a set of rules that ensure both individual safety and the general security of life and health of a wide range of people. Violation of the requirements of special norms in itself creates a danger of harm to life and health, and other objects of criminal legal protection (Determination of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of July 8, 2022 N 1373-O). At the same time, liability for careless causing of death is provided both in the general rule, which is Article 109 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and in special rules on liability for violation of rules aimed at reducing the risks of a particular type of activity, including rules ensuring labor protection for workers, industrial safety of hazardous production facilities or safety of construction and other potentially hazardous work (Articles 143, 216 and 217 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
Another comment on Art. 215.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
1. The subject of this crime includes life support facilities, which are understood as buildings, structures, devices and (or) their complexes intended for the generation, storage, transmission, accumulation and transportation of electricity, heat, water, gas, communications (power plants, power lines , water treatment plants, gas pipelines). Other life support facilities include, for example, treatment facilities and ventilation facilities.
2. From the objective side, the crime consists of committing one of the following actions: a) destruction, i.e. violation of the structural integrity of a life support facility, as a result of which the specified facility ceases its physical existence; b) damage, i.e. violation of the structural integrity of a life support object, which does not lead to the cessation of the physical existence of the object in question, and it can be restored; c) other actions that, although they do not violate the physical integrity of a life support facility, lead to the impossibility of its operation, for example, building rubble, flooding, etc.
The crime in question is considered completed from the moment any of these actions are committed.
3. The subjective side (according to Part 1) assumes direct intent. There must be a motive - selfish or hooligan motives. The absence of these motives excludes the possibility of qualifying destruction or damage to a life support facility under this article; in this case, the act must be qualified under Art. 167 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Violation of safety rules at nuclear energy facilities
1. Violation of safety rules during the siting, design, construction and operation of nuclear energy facilities, if this could lead to the death of a person or radioactive contamination of the environment, is punishable by
a fine in the amount of up to two hundred thousand rubles or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period up to eighteen months, or restriction of liberty for a term of up to three years, or forced labor for a term of up to three years with deprivation of the right to occupy certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years or without it, or imprisonment for the same term with deprivation of the right to occupy certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of up to three years or without it.
2. The same act, which through negligence entailed the infliction of serious harm to health or the death of a person or radioactive contamination of the environment, -
shall be punishable by 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, or without one.
3. An act provided for in the first part of this article, resulting in the death of two or more persons through negligence, -
shall be punishable by 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 by imprisonment for a term of up to seven 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 one.
