CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR LEAVING IN DANGER UNDER CANADIAN LAW: ANALYSIS AND POSITIVE EXPERIENCE FOR UKRAINE IN THE FIELD OF COMBATING CRIMINAL OFFENSES AGAINST THE LIFE AND HEALTH OF A PERSON

Abstract

The article examines criminal liability under Canadian law for abandonment in danger (Article 215 of the Criminal Code of Canada), i.e. failure to fulfill the duties of care by certain persons (parents, adoptive parents before the child reaches the age of 16, guardians, spouses, etc.), if the victim, due to his/her minority, old age, illness or other helpless condition, is unable to provide himself/herself with a full and safe life. Attention is also paid to highlighting the elements of the criminal offense, as well as the punishment for its commission. Based on the analysis, it is proposed to supplement Part 1 of Article 135 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine with not only a life-threatening but also a health-threatening condition, and therefore the disposition of Part 1 of Article 135 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine at the legislative level should be worded as follows: “deliberate abandonment without help of a person who is in a life-threatening condition and health condition and is deprived of the opportunity to take measures for self-preservation due to minor age, old age, illness or as a result of another helpless condition, if the person who abandoned without help was obliged to take care of this person and was able to provide him with assistance, as well as in the case when he himself put the victim in a life-threatening condition and health condition”, which will have a positive impact on preventing and counteracting the commission of criminal offenses against the life and health of a person, including those related to abandonment in danger. Also, during the analysis of the composition of abandonment in danger under the criminal law of Canada, it was found that this composition of the crime is formal, that is, it does not provide for the occurrence of socially dangerous consequences for the victim. Among the types of punishments applicable to a person guilty of leaving a person in danger, the criminal law of Canada provides for imprisonment for a term of up to five years. The presence of such a type of punishment as imprisonment for leaving a person in danger under the legislation of Ukraine is also appropriate and logically justified, since this criminal offense is committed against the life and health of a person and can cause socially dangerous consequences to him.