Protection of mental health of an individual as a significant object of criminal law protection.
Authors:
1.
SAINT-PETERSBURG UNIVERSITY OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
(kafedra ugolovnogo prava, docent kafedry)
from 01.01.2024 until now
from 01.01.2024 until now
Type:
Article
Pages:
from 51
to 58
Status:
Published
Received:
13.08.2025
Accepted:
29.09.2025
Published:
29.09.2025
Language:
Russian
Keywords:
Mental health, mental disorder, object of criminal law protection, socially dangerous encroachment, social well-being.
Abstract (English):
Introduction. This article presents the results of a study of the possibilities of criminal-legal protection of an individual's mental health in the Russian Federation. The relevance of the topic is due to the fact that mental health is rarely enshrined in legislation as an independent object of criminal-legal protection. In most cases, harm to it is integrated into the general category of "harm to health." The study has shown that this state of affairs reduces the effectiveness of the protection of individual rights. In this regard, a comprehensive revision of approaches to the legal regulation of the protection of an individual's mental health is required. Methods. The study used: dialectical method, comparative legal analysis of international standards and national legislation, document research method (to study the norms of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation), doctrinal analysis of scientific publications, analysis of judicial practice, including decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (to identify gaps and conflicts in the legal regulation of the protection of an individual's mental health). Results. It has been established that procedural rules do not ensure the mandatory identification and recording of mental harm. The criminal law does not differentiate the degrees of severity of mental disorders, which leads to their underestimation when qualifying crimes. In this regard, the author has formulated proposals for amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, concerning the consolidation of mental disorders of all degrees of severity as legally significant consequences of a criminal act, as well as the introduction of mandatory expert determination of harm caused to the mental health of an individual into criminal proceedings.
Introduction. This article presents the results of a study of the possibilities of criminal-legal protection of an individual's mental health in the Russian Federation. The relevance of the topic is due to the fact that mental health is rarely enshrined in legislation as an independent object of criminal-legal protection. In most cases, harm to it is integrated into the general category of "harm to health." The study has shown that this state of affairs reduces the effectiveness of the protection of individual rights. In this regard, a comprehensive revision of approaches to the legal regulation of the protection of an individual's mental health is required. Methods. The study used: dialectical method, comparative legal analysis of international standards and national legislation, document research method (to study the norms of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation), doctrinal analysis of scientific publications, analysis of judicial practice, including decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation and the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (to identify gaps and conflicts in the legal regulation of the protection of an individual's mental health). Results. It has been established that procedural rules do not ensure the mandatory identification and recording of mental harm. The criminal law does not differentiate the degrees of severity of mental disorders, which leads to their underestimation when qualifying crimes. In this regard, the author has formulated proposals for amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, concerning the consolidation of mental disorders of all degrees of severity as legally significant consequences of a criminal act, as well as the introduction of mandatory expert determination of harm caused to the mental health of an individual into criminal proceedings.
Keywords:
Mental health, mental disorder, object of criminal law protection, socially dangerous encroachment, social well-being.
Mental health, mental disorder, object of criminal law protection, socially dangerous encroachment, social well-being.
