Sanity and insanity in criminal law

The concept of sanity in criminal law

Definition 1
Sanity is an adequate state of a healthy person, in particular the state of his psyche, which is expressed in the ability to realize the real nature and social potential danger of his actions and manage them.

According to criminal law, the concept of “sanity” is contrasted with the concept of “insanity”.

Definition 2

Insanity is a state of a person that is caused by an inadequate state of his psyche or dementia, that is, an insane subject is not able to be aware of his own behavior and control his actions at the time of committing a crime. Insanity is established by a forensic psychiatric examination.

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The subject of an offense of any gravity can be a sane individual who has reached the age of 14. Any person involved in the case whose state of insanity is confirmed by a medical examination is not subject to criminal liability and is not the subject of a crime (Article 21 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Criteria characterizing the state of insanity:

medical (physical);
legal (psychological).

Age-related insanity

Another mental state of a person that has criminal legal significance is the so-called “age-related insanity”, which is not subject to criminal liability. As a general rule, a person over 16 years of age can bear criminal liability. However, from the age of 14, one can be held criminally liable for committing crimes that are listed in Part 2 of Art. 20 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

It should be noted here that not all persons who have reached the age specified by law, due to the lack of the necessary psychophysical properties, can correctly assess their behavior. In such cases, the rule formulated by the legislator in Part 3 of Article 20 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is applied. This concept excludes the medical criterion of insanity, since this norm speaks of mental retardation (discrepancy between the intellectual development of a person and the age reached by the person), and not of a mental disorder. The reasons for such a delay in development may be social infantilism, sensory deprivation, somatic diseases suffered in early childhood, namely, before the age of 2 years in severe form.

Thus, “age-related insanity”, like insanity, excludes criminal liability.

Criteria for determining insanity

The legal (psychological) criterion is determined by two criteria: an intellectual characteristic (lack of ability to assess the real nature of one’s actions); volitional sign (inability to control one’s behavior).

Medical (physical) indicators of insanity:

chronic neurological diseases (epilepsy, schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, cerebral syphilis, etc.);
temporary mental disorders - curable mental illness (alcoholism, drug addiction, pathological syndrome, etc.);
dementia - chronic decreased mental activity (debility, imbecility, idiocy);
various types of painful conditions - mental disorders, both temporary and chronic forms of psychopathy, mental disorders that are caused by various infectious diseases or brain injuries, hallucinations and other unhealthy conditions.

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Only if one of the criteria (legal and medical) is present can the subject be declared insane. If, in a certain case, the person involved was diagnosed with a mental disorder at the time of the forensic psychiatric examination, but the experts during the investigation concluded that the subject, although not fully, could be aware of the nature of his actions and direct his actions. Based on such an expert opinion, the court may decide that the person involved has a mental disorder, but this does not exclude sanity and determines his punishment for the totality of crimes.

The status of insanity for a defendant is established in relation to a specifically committed socially dangerous act. Only the court makes a final decision on the issue of declaring the defendant insane. The most important thing is that the conclusion of a preliminary forensic psychiatric examination on the issue of sanity or insanity of the subject is not mandatory for the court.

In Article 22 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation We have already completed coursework

Criminal legal characteristics of the crime under Art. 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in more detail from 1996 contains a rule on limited sanity. The essence of this legal act is that a person, the subject of a crime in a state of mental disorder, can be recognized as sane, although this subject could not fully realize the actual danger to society in his actions (inaction) or control his behavior. In such a case, the subject of the crime is not exempt from liability, but the fact of the presence of a mental disorder is a mitigating circumstance, and the court has the right to prescribe compulsory medical treatment to the person involved.

A criminal investigation into a case against a mentally ill person usually ends with the case being sent to the court for consideration with a petition to impose compulsory medical treatment on the subject (Article 97 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). If the court decides that a mentally unstable subject does not pose a public danger, the court refuses to order compulsory medical treatment and terminates the criminal case. In this case, the unhealthy subject is referred for medical treatment in accordance with health care legislation. We have already completed an essay

Features of regulation of labor relations in healthcare in more detail (Part 4 of Article 97 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

It is worth considering that a subject who is sent for compulsory treatment is required to undergo a medical examination once every 6 months to determine the subject’s possible recovery (Part 2 of Article 102 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). If the fact of recovery has occurred, the subject may be subject to criminal liability subsequently, but only on the condition that the offense could have been committed under conditions of sanity, and the condition in question, which caused the inability to recognize one’s actions and accordingly manage one’s behavior, occurred later.

Legal status of citizens limited in legal capacity due to mental disorder

22.05.2013

BOGDANOV E.V., Head of the Department of Civil Law of the Republican Party of Justice of the Ministry of Justice of Russia, Doctor of Law, Professor.
Article 30 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides for restrictions on the legal capacity of citizens who, due to a mental disorder, cannot understand the meaning of their actions or manage them.

For a long time, such persons were either recognized as incompetent and thereby practically excluded from independent participation both in civil circulation and in the public life of the country, since the implementation and protection of the rights of these persons and the performance of their duties are entrusted to guardians. They do not take part in the electoral process. They are prohibited from getting married, etc. Or persons with a defective psyche remain fully capable, but at the same time they find themselves alone with their problems, including when protecting their rights from unscrupulous persons who want to use their painful condition for personal enrichment. Practice shows that people with mental disorders are often manipulated when drawing up wills, concluding gift agreements and other transactions.

However, the problem is that mental disorders in a person can take different forms. Quite often, citizens suffering from them, to some extent and under certain conditions, can navigate their surroundings, understand the meaning of their actions or manage them. It all depends on the depth of the mental disorder, the characteristics of its course, the effectiveness of treatment, etc. and it would be inhumane to both recognize them as incompetent and generally leave them without any help.

A solution was found in the form of limiting the legal capacity of these persons and appointing a trustee for them. In accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 30 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (comes into force on March 2, 2015) <1> a citizen who, due to a mental disorder, can understand the meaning of his actions or manage them only with the help of other persons, may be limited by the court in legal capacity in the manner established by civil procedural legislation. Guardianship is established over him.

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<1> Federal Law of December 30, 2012 N 302-FZ “On Amendments to Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Part One of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation” // SZ RF. 12/31/2012. N 53 (part I). Art. 7627.

In principle, there is no world novelty in this decision. Rules providing for limitation (precisely limitation) of the legal capacity of citizens suffering from mental disorders are available in the civil legislation of many countries and have been successfully applied in practice for a long time. Yes, Art. Art. 490 - 514 of the French Civil Code (FCC) provide for several different legal regimes for persons with limited legal capacity due to mental disorders. For example, in accordance with Art. 491-2 of the Federal Civil Code, an adult placed under the protection of rights retains the opportunity to exercise his rights. However, the transactions concluded by him and the obligations assumed may be terminated or reduced in case of abuse. The protection of the rights of a person with limited legal capacity is carried out by the courts, which take into account the condition of the person under protection, the good faith or bad faith of those who had an agreement with him, the benefit or futility of the transaction. This protection regime can be terminated, in particular, by decision of the prosecutor of the republic, by establishing guardianship or trusteeship (Article 491-6 of the Federal Civil Code).

For adults with a guardian, a different legal regime is established (Articles 508 - 514 of the Federal Civil Code). Thus, when establishing guardianship, the judge, after the conclusion of the attending physician, can list some transactions that a person with limited legal capacity has the right to carry out independently, or, conversely, add other transactions to those that require the assistance of a trustee (Article 511 of the Federal Civil Code). It is interesting to note that a person who has a trustee can, as a general rule, freely draw up a will, but making a donation is possible only with the assistance of his trustee (Article 513 of the Federal Civil Code).

Limitation of legal capacity of citizens suffering from mental disorders is provided for in Art. Art. 256 - 297 of the Civil Code of Quebec; Art. Art. 865, 138b, 151 General Civil Code of Austria, etc.

The experience of Ukraine is of some interest. According to Art. 36 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, the court may limit the civil capacity of an individual if he suffers from a mental disorder that significantly affects his ability to understand the meaning of his actions and (or) manage them. The Ukrainian legislator pointed out the need to establish the significance of the influence of a mental disorder on the ability of an individual to understand the meaning of his actions and (or) manage them.

Russian legislation also contains an element of materiality, only in a different wording: limiting the legal capacity of a citizen in connection with a mental disorder is possible only when he can understand the meaning of his actions or manage them only with the help of another person. If a citizen, even with the help of another person, is unable to understand the meaning of his actions or manage them, he must be declared incompetent. And vice versa, if a citizen, even if he has a mental disorder, without the help of another person, can understand the meaning of his actions or manage them, his legal capacity should remain intact.

At the same time, in Art. 30 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, mental disorders are not differentiated into separate types, as is the case, for example, Art. 21 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which states that a person who, at the time of committing a socially dangerous act, was in a state of insanity, is not subject to criminal liability, i.e. could not realize the actual nature and social danger of his actions (inaction) or manage them due to a chronic mental disorder, temporary mental disorder, dementia or other painful mental state.

Since civil legislation does not differentiate between mental disorders, to recognize a citizen as having limited legal capacity, the presence of any mental disorder is sufficient, unless it is established that, as a result of this disorder, the citizen can understand the meaning of his actions or manage them only with the help of another person. Obviously, in such cases, the court’s adoption of an appropriate decision must be preceded by a forensic psychiatric, forensic psychological or complex forensic psychological and psychiatric examination. The expert opinion will be assessed by the court along with other circumstances of the case.

The mental state of a citizen can change for better or worse. This circumstance affects the citizen’s ability to understand the meaning of his actions or manage them. Depending on the circumstances of the case, the court either cancels the restriction of the citizen’s legal capacity and the guardianship established over him, or recognizes such a citizen as incompetent with the establishment of guardianship.

A person limited in legal capacity due to a mental disorder enters into transactions with the written consent of the trustee. The transaction completed by him will also be valid with its subsequent written approval by the trustee (Article 30 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). At the same time, in the preliminary consent to carry out a transaction, the subject of the transaction must be determined, and with subsequent consent, the transaction to which consent has been given must be indicated (clause 3 of Article 157 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

It would seem that everything has been thought out and no questions should arise, but they do appear.

First of all, it should be borne in mind that in paragraph 2 of Art. 30 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation we are talking about citizens who, due to a mental disorder, can understand the meaning of their actions or manage them only with the help of other persons. This should be specially noted somehow, otherwise this circumstance may go unnoticed: only with the help of other people can citizens suffering from mental disorders be able to understand the meaning of their actions or manage them. This is impossible for them without the help of others.

In this regard, the question arises: how can we talk about the subsequent approval of a transaction made by a citizen limited in legal capacity due to a mental disorder even before, with the help of a trustee, he understands the meaning of the action being performed? In the case of prior consent, the transaction may be concluded because the trustee explained everything in detail, showed, instructed, etc. and the person suffering from a mental disorder has understood the meaning of his future action and has received an idea of how to guide it. However, how will this subject complete a transaction with subsequent consent, when at the time of its completion he still does not understand either the meaning of his action or how to manage it. What remains in this case: to recognize the transaction as invalid on the appropriate grounds or to “recover” it by subsequent approval of the transaction? How can all this affect the stability of civil turnover?

In our opinion, the legislator has made an attempt to equate citizens with limited legal capacity due to a mental disorder with minors aged 14 to 18 years. However, this approach seems incorrect. What can be said about a citizen aged 17 years and 11 months: does he not understand the meaning of his actions or cannot manage them? Or is he already a fully mature person and fully oriented in the world around him, and his parents, with their subsequent approval of the transaction he has completed, only make up for some very insignificant part of his life experience and, accordingly, his legal capacity? As for citizens suffering from a mental disorder, regardless of age, they are practically unable to adequately navigate their surroundings. They live in a slightly different world and cannot understand the meaning of their actions or manage them in the way that is customary in the reality around them. But their psyche is such that, with the help of another person, they can understand the meaning of the action being performed and can guide it. That is why it is inhumane to recognize these persons as incompetent and exclude them from public life.

On his own, this person has the right to perform only a small amount of legal actions: small household transactions; transactions aimed at obtaining benefits free of charge, which do not require notarization or state registration; transactions for the disposal of funds provided by the trustee or with his consent by a third party for a specific purpose or for free disposal, as well as to dispose of one’s earnings, scholarships and other income (Clause 2 of Article 30 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

For comparison, it can be noted that minors aged 14 to 18 years, in addition to the transactions listed above, also have the right to independently exercise the rights of the author of a work of science, literature or art, invention or other legally protected result of their intellectual activity, as well as, in accordance with the law, to contribute deposits in credit organizations and manage them. Consequently, citizens limited in legal capacity due to a mental disorder are endowed by the legislator with less legal capacity than minors aged 14 to 18 years.

This circumstance indicates that due to a mental disorder, not only adult citizens, but, if necessary, also minors aged 14 to 18 years can be limited in their legal capacity. After their legal capacity is limited, they will have less legal capacity than other minors at the specified age.

In accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 30 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, citizens limited in legal capacity due to a mental disorder bear property liability both for independently completed transactions and for transactions concluded with the consent of the trustee. That is, the legislator equated these persons in the issue of liability for transactions with minors aged 14 to 18 years. These are the consequences provided for them in paragraph 3 of Art. 26 Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

However, this decision of the legislator seems controversial. Citizens limited in legal capacity due to a mental disorder can understand the meaning of their actions or manage them only with the help of other persons, in particular a trustee. On their own, these individuals are unable to either understand the meaning of their actions or manage them. The exception is transactions that the legislator allows them to carry out independently. Therefore, liability for concluded transactions must be differentiated depending on the method of its execution. For transactions that a citizen limited in legal capacity has the right to carry out independently, only he should bear responsibility. If the consent of the trustee was necessary to complete the transaction and he turned out to be the “instance” with the help of which a person suffering from a mental disorder understood the meaning of his actions and was able to manage them, then the issue of liability under the transaction should be resolved depending on the good faith of the trustee. Moreover, as an exception to the general rule on the presumption of good faith, he must prove his good faith. If he behaves in good faith, responsibility should be placed on a citizen with limited legal capacity. In case of dishonesty, it is necessary to provide for joint liability of both the citizen with limited legal capacity and the trustee.

The solution to the issue of liability for causing harm to a citizen limited in legal capacity due to a mental disorder also raises objections. According to paragraph 2 of Art. 30 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, such persons are liable in accordance with the Civil Code. Thus, the specific decision in Art. 30 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation is missing and on the issue of the subject of liability, as well as its conditions, it is necessary to be guided by the norms of Chapter 59 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. First of all, it is necessary to exclude the possibility of applying the rules of Art. 1076 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on liability for harm caused by a citizen declared incompetent. In our opinion, Art. 1077 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, according to which harm caused by a citizen limited in legal capacity due to the abuse of alcoholic beverages or drugs (apparently, this provision will be supplemented by an indication also of persons who abuse gambling) is compensated by the causer of the harm. And not only because persons limited in legal capacity due to a mental disorder are not mentioned here (alas, it cannot be ruled out that they may consider it possible to equate the legal status on the issue of responsibility of citizens suffering from mental disorders with alcoholics, drug addicts and gamblers ). The fact is that the limitation in the legal capacity of the above-mentioned persons is due to the fact that by their behavior they put their families in a difficult financial situation. In addition, their behavior is the result of the personal choice of these individuals. It is no coincidence that, according to paragraph 2 of Art. 1078 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the tortfeasor is not exempt from liability if he himself brought himself into a state in which he could not understand the meaning of his actions or control them by using alcoholic beverages, drugs or otherwise, while the legal capacity of citizens suffering from a mental disorder is limited associated with an illness or other painful condition.

Since citizens limited in legal capacity due to a mental disorder are not able to account for their actions or lead without outside help, this implies the need to ensure appropriate supervision over them, for the improper implementation of which supervisors (trustees) must be held accountable. At the same time, causing harm is an action whose essence should be understood even by a person with a damaged psyche. Therefore, the liability of these persons for causing harm cannot be excluded. They must bear the primary responsibility. As for the person exercising supervision, the issue of his responsibility must be resolved by analogy with Art. 1074 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, i.e. The appointed trustee will be liable in a subsidiary manner until the ward’s full legal capacity is restored, unless he proves that the harm did not arise through his fault. However, this issue requires special regulation.

It has already been noted above that the mental state of a person suffering from a mental disorder is very changeable, and it may well happen that at the time of harm, a citizen with limited legal capacity did not understand the meaning of his actions or could not control them. In such a situation, compensation for damage must be carried out according to the rules of Art. 1078 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Russian criminal legislation provides for the rule that a mental disorder that does not preclude sanity is taken into account by the court when assigning punishment and can serve as a basis for imposing compulsory medical measures (clause 2 of Article 22 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The presence of this norm may lead to the appearance in the literature of proposals on the need to take into account the mental disorder of a citizen with limited legal capacity in order to reduce the amount of compensation for damage and (or) compensation for moral damage. However, criminal liability is aimed at the personality of the offender, and therefore the state of mental disorder can be taken into account when assigning punishment and applying compulsory medical measures. While the purpose of compensation for property damage and compensation for moral damage is to ensure the property and personal interests of the injured subject, which does not allow for the possibility of reducing the amount of compensation for both property and moral damage on the specified basis.

Publication information

Bogdanov E.V. Legal status of citizens limited in legal capacity due to mental disorder // Lawyer. 2013. N 6.

By what criteria is insanity assessed in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation?

In this section it is worth mentioning two main criteria - legal and medical. Each parameter has its own characteristics, so it’s worth talking about them in more detail:

The legal criterion allows you to determine the signs of guilt in a particular person. Here we can note intellectual (a person is aware of his behavior) and volitional (he controls himself). The absence of one of the parameters still allows one to establish insanity.
The medical criterion is based on the results of diagnosing the citizen’s condition and identifying mental disorders in him at the time of the commission of criminal acts.

Only a set of criteria can cause the accused person to be declared insane. Only a court has the right to declare a person inadequate after receiving opinions from all specialists. The basis for sending a person for an expert assessment may be the presence of various facts and external manifestations of a mental disorder in the accused.

How can age affect the determination of a criminal's sanity?

This parameter is a very important criterion for establishing the obligation to bring a person to criminal responsibility. In the Russian Federation, with few exceptions, the age of criminal responsibility begins at 16 years.

Punishment can be avoided if, during the consideration of the case, it turns out that the teenager lagged behind his peers in development. We are not talking about mental disorder as such, but an examination is also ordered to identify the child’s developmental characteristics.

What mental disorders cannot exclude sanity and what is affect?

Affect is considered to be quite close in content and meaning to the concept of insanity. Here we can mention mental disorders that do not exclude sanity. The fact is that not every mental disorder can cause a state of insanity. There is another category when a person, even with a similar disease, remains sane and can be held accountable on a general basis. This issue is regulated by Part 1 of Article 22 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

In addition to the above, it is worth remembering about limited sanity, when the guilty person is considered adequate, but not fully. In simple words, a person is fully aware of the actual nature and danger of the actions committed, and therefore is capable of bearing responsibility for the offense committed.

Affect is not a psychodisorder, since it is defined as emotional stress that occurs suddenly. Experts note that affect does not have a strong impact on the general state of the psyche and does not provoke such strong changes in the psyche that the criminal cannot realize how socially dangerous the act he is committing is.