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Legal Studies
Reference:

Optional features of the objective side in crimes against life and health under the legislation of some countries of the Romano-Germanic legal family (using the example of Germany and France)

Sogomonov Dmitrii Karenovich

Postgraduate student, Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Kuban State University

350000, Russia, Krasnodar Territory, Krasnodar, Stavropol str., 149

dmitri009@mail.ru

DOI:

10.25136/2409-7136.2024.4.70271

EDN:

HDJCJB

Received:

27-03-2024


Published:

08-04-2024


Abstract: The need for an integrated approach to the study of optional by nature signs of the objective side and their role in crimes against life and health requires turning to the experience of foreign countries. In this connection, the work examines some features of the construction of optional signs of the objective side in the above-mentioned criminal offenses in the criminal legislation of Germany and France. The conducted comparative research made it possible to see ways of improvement and vectors of development of criminal law policy, the implementation of which is carried out precisely by the correction of the criminal law. Based on the results of the work, the author indicates that legislators in Germany and France, unlike in Russia, do not attach serious importance to optional signs of the objective side when constructing crimes against life and health. At the same time, certain features in the regulation of optional signs of the objective side in crimes against life and health, which are not characteristic of domestic law, are still refined. For example, in Germany, in relation to murder in a state of passion, not only the determinants of the occurrence of a state of strong emotional excitement, but also the pre-criminal behavior of the subject of the crime are taken into account. It is also noted that the German Criminal Code regulates liability for participation in a fight; it regulates liability for abortion that occurs outside the established period of pregnancy at which it is possible. In addition, it was revealed that the French Criminal Code criminalizes hiring to commit murder if the mercenary did not plan to commit a criminal act. In conclusion, the author of the work suggests ways to improve domestic legislation taking into account the studied foreign experience.


Keywords:

life, health, signs, objective side, Germany, France, criminal law, optional signs, criminal, law

This article is automatically translated.

The legal aspects related to the criminal law assessment of optional features of the objective side in the composition of crimes against life and health have their own problems, which is emphasized by a large number of fundamental works [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7], as well as judicial practice.

Currently, in most legal states of the world, the most significant relations, including those related to the protection of life and health, are protected by criminal law [8, p. 207]. Therefore, the study of almost any phenomenon in criminal law requires understanding the experience of foreign countries. According to N.N. Tarasov, conducting a comparative analysis today is one of the conditions for scientific correctness [9, p. 7], it acts as an integral element of the system of legal thinking, making the study reliable and justified. In addition, the deliberate and selective consideration by the Russian legislator of foreign experience can contribute to the optimal resolution of a whole range of problems, including those in domestic criminal law theory and practice [10, p. 79].

The comparative analysis of the legislation of the countries of the Romano-German legal family, conducted in the specialized literature, usually boils down to the study and comparison of the criminal law of Germany and France. This approach seems logical and traditional, since it is in these countries that there is a long history of legislation formation. In addition, it should be noted that the laws of Germany and France are the closest to the domestic one due to the fact that they are all based on the reception of Roman law and are united by common structures, sources and similarity of the conceptual and legal apparatus.

The relevance of the topic of the work is confirmed by the fact that, within the framework of scientific understanding, scientists did not conduct research on optional signs of an objective side in crimes against life and health under the laws of Germany and France.

The Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany (hereinafter referred to as the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany) resembles the codified criminal legislation of the RSFSR in its structure, since its Special part is "opened" by crimes against peace and the state. Sections 16 and 17 of the Criminal Code of Germany are devoted to responsibility for crimes against life and health.

Section 211 of the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany contains provisions regulating responsibility for murder. Based on the analysis of the scientific works of German lawyers, it can be concluded that the signs of qualified homicide in the German criminal law doctrine are conditionally divided into two groups [11, 12, 13]. The circumstances forming the first of them characterize the subjective side of the crime, the signs of the second type are by their nature objective and characterize the ways and means of committing a crime.

It is noteworthy that all the qualifying signs characterizing both objective and subjective circumstances are located in the second part of the above paragraph. Optional signs of the objective side of murder in the Criminal Code of Germany are similar to domestic ones, they include: brutal murder and committed by a means dangerous to society.

The privileged types of this act include the less serious case of manslaughter (§ 213 – Minder schwerer Fall des Totschlags) and murder on request (§ 216 – T?tung auf Verlangen).

The first of these types is an analogue of murder in a state of passion. § 213 of the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany contains an indication of such objective signs as an insult inflicted by the victim to the subject of the crime or his relative; grave offense on the part of the deceased. § 216 of the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany also includes the studied signs, which include the requirement of being deprived of life.

In the judicial practice of the Federal Republic of Germany, it is indicated that in order to qualify under Section 213 of the Code, an insult or insult caused by the victim should not be caused by the precriminal behavior of the subject of the crime [15]. Such a "remark" is relevant for the domestic legislator. Indeed, the subject of the crime may himself provoke the negative behavior of the victim, which subsequently forms an affected state.

In view of this, it seems possible to provide a qualifying feature in Articles 107 and 113 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, indicating the behavior of the subject of the crime before the occurrence of a state of sudden strong emotional excitement.

There are indications of other optional signs of an objective side in the legislation of the Federal Republic of Germany. § 224 of the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany regulates the punishability of dangerous bodily harm. Responsibility for such an act occurs, including if it is committed through the use of poison or other harmful substances; with the use of weapons or other dangerous tools; from an ambush; with the help of life-threatening treatment.

Unlike the domestic law, the Criminal Code of Germany regulates responsibility for participation in a fight. § 231 of the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany establishes that liability occurs if, as a result of a fight, the victim died or serious harm was caused or bodily injuries were inflicted, specified in § 226 of the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Of particular interest is the regulation in the Criminal Code of Germany of responsibility for abortion. For example, section 218c of the Code criminalizes medical misconduct in the event of an abortion. The objective side of the said act includes: the failure to provide a pregnant woman with medical advice on the importance of the procedure; the absence of a preliminary determination of the duration of pregnancy on the basis of a medical examination.

According to § 218a of the Criminal Code of Germany, abortion is legal if it is performed within 20 weeks from the moment of conception. The exception to the violation of this period is a serious deterioration in the physical or mental health of a pregnant woman.

In Russia, artificial termination of pregnancy is regulated by Article 56 of Federal Law No. 323-FZ dated 11/21/2011 "On the Basics of protecting the health of Citizens in the Russian Federation" and the provisions of the Order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation dated 10/20/2020 No. 1130n "On approval of the Procedure for providing medical care in the field of obstetrics and gynecology". According to paragraph 4 of Article 56 of the said law, artificial termination of pregnancy for social reasons is carried out with a pregnancy period of up to 22 weeks, and in the presence of medical indications – regardless of the duration of pregnancy.

It seems that in order to improve the demographic situation and increase the level of protection of the right to life, criminalization of the act related to termination of pregnancy is required, by analogy with the provisions of the Criminal Code of Germany.

In view of this, it seems possible to add to Article 123 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation a qualifying feature related to the timing of artificial termination of pregnancy. The wording of such a sign may look like this: "Performing an artificial termination of pregnancy without medical indications by a person with a higher medical education of the appropriate profile, with a pregnancy period exceeding twenty-two weeks."

Regarding the criminal legislation of France, we note that book II of the French Criminal Code (hereinafter referred to as the French Criminal Code) establishes responsibility for crimes against human beings, contains, among other things, chapter I "Crimes against human life", chapter I bis "Crimes against human life committed as a result of enforced disappearances" and chapter II "Encroachments the physical or psychological integrity of the individual."

The qualifying circumstances containing an indication of optional signs of the objective side of the crime, the French Criminal Code includes: from an ambush (Article 221-3); against a person because of his refusal to marry or enter into an alliance (part 10 of Article 221-4).

There is an indication of the means of committing a crime in the regulation of liability for an attempt on life in article 221-5 of the Criminal Code of France, which include substances that cause death.

Article 221-5-1 of the French Criminal Code provides for responsibility for organizing a murder, which is similar in nature to murder for hire, responsibility for which is provided for in paragraph "z" of Part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, but differs in a special way.

We consider the experience of France to be positive and, from the perspective of preventing criminal acts against life, we propose to supplement the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation Article 108.1, regulating responsibility for hiring for murder, and set it out in the following wording:

"Article 108.1. Hiring to commit murder

Hiring a person by persuasion, offers, bribery, deception or in any other way for the purpose of committing murder in the absence of the intention of this person to commit it ...".

The proposed arrangement of the said norm is due to the fact that such an act is less dangerous than privileged murders, but more serious than causing death by negligence. In addition, its object is identical to the object of crimes for which responsibility is established 105-1102 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Chapter II ("Attacks on the physical or psychological integrity of the person") The French Criminal Code includes section 1 "Attacks on the inviolability of the person", which contains three paragraphs: "Torture and acts of aggression (des tortures et actes de barbarie (articles 222-1 ? 222-6-4))", "Violence" (des violences (articles 222-7 ? 222-16-3)); "Threats" (des menaces (articles 222-17 (222-18-3)).

As can be seen from the titles of the paragraphs, the French Criminal Code establishes independent responsibility for torture. The qualifying signs of the objective side of torture include the commission of an act from ambush and with the use or threat of use of weapons.

Violence in the Criminal Code of France is intentional harm to health. Optional signs of the objective side of such acts include the commission of an act from ambush (part 9 of articles 222-8; 222-10; 222-12; 222-13); with the use or threat of use of weapons (part 10 of articles 222-8; 222-10; 222-12; 222-13); in educational institutions or in administration premises, as well as when students or the public enter or exit, or at a time very close to them, near these institutions or premises (part 11 articles 222-12; 222-13); in passenger transport or in a place designated for access to passenger transport (part 13 articles 222-12; 222-13).

The French Criminal Code, when regulating liability for crimes against health, gives a legal definition of an ambush, which means the fact of waiting at a certain time and in a certain place for a person against whom a crime has been committed or an encroachment on him (Article 222-15-1 of the French Criminal Code).

Summing up the analysis of the construction of optional features of the objective side in the composition of crimes against life and health in the legislation of Germany and France, the following conclusions can be drawn.

1. It is proved that the legislators of Germany and France, unlike the Russian one, do not attach serious importance to the optional signs of the objective side when constructing the elements of crimes against life and health. This conclusion is confirmed by a comparison of the Criminal Code of Germany, the Criminal Code of France and the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

2. At the same time, certain features in the regulation of optional features of the objective side in the composition of crimes against life and health, which are not peculiar to domestic law, have nevertheless been found. These features include:

- in Germany, in relation to murder in a state of passion, not only the determinants of the occurrence of a state of strong emotional excitement are taken into account, but also the precriminal behavior of the subject of the crime;

- The German Criminal Code regulates responsibility for participation in a fight; it regulates responsibility for abortion, which is performed outside the prescribed period of pregnancy, at which it is possible.

- the Criminal Code of France criminalizes hiring to commit murder if the mercenary did not plan to commit a criminal act.

3. In order to improve domestic legislation, taking into account the studied experience, the following changes can be proposed:

– following the example of the legislation of the Federal Republic of Germany, it seems possible to provide in Articles 107 and 113 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation a qualifying sign indicating the behavior of the subject of the crime before the occurrence of a state of sudden strong emotional excitement (affect);

– by analogy with the Criminal Code of Germany, it is proposed to supplement Article 123 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with a qualifying sign related to the timing of artificial termination of pregnancy. Its wording may look like this: "Performing an artificial termination of pregnancy without medical indications by a person with a higher medical education of the appropriate profile, with a pregnancy period exceeding 22 weeks";

– taking into account the legislative experience of France, it seems possible to supplement the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation Article 108.1, which establishes liability for hiring for murder.

References
1. Aitova, O.F. (2017). Criminal legal problems of the time of crime: dis. ...cand. legal Sci. Saratov.
2. Artyushina, O.V. (2011). Murder with extreme cruelty: criminal legal and criminological aspects: dis. ...cand. legal Sci. N. Novgorod.
3. Druzhkov, S.N. (2002). Criminal legal functions of special cruelty as part of murder: issues of theory and practice: dis. ...cand. legal Sci. Izhevsk.
4. Krotov, S.E. (2005). Differentiation of criminal liability depending on the categorization of crimes, qualifying features and aggravating circumstances: dis. ...cand. legal Sci. Moscow.
5. Luneva, A.V. (2013). Criminal liability for infanticide: problems of theory and law enforcement: dis. ...cand. legal Sci. Moscow.
6. Popova, N.P. (2005). Responsibility for crimes committed with extreme cruelty: dis. ...cand. legal Sci. Moscow.
7. Radjabov R.M. (2009). Responsibility for crimes against the person committed with extreme cruelty: dis. ...cand. legal Sci. Moscow.
8. Novitsky, A.A. (2020). Comparative legal analysis of the criminal legislation of Russia and France. Skif. Questions of student science, 3(43), 207.
9. Tarasov, N.N. (2022). Comparative law: new realities and new problems. In.: Baikal comparative readings: materials of the International. scientific-practical conf. Irkutsk.
10. Ogorodnikova, N.V. (2018). Criminal law prohibition as a tool for crime prevention: domestic and foreign experience of taking into account privileged signs of murder. Legal Bulletin of the Kuban State University, 2, 79.
11. Aktueller Begriff. Mord und Totschlag – aktuelle Reformdebatte. Deutscher Bundestag Nr. 17/15 (20. Juli 2015). Retrieved from https://www.bundestag.de/
12. Der Mord gemäß § 211 StGB: Wann wird aus einem Totschläger ein Mörder? Retrieved from https://www.anwalt.org/mord/
13. Dr. Greco, Luis Ehrenmorde im deutschen Strafrecht. Zeitung für Internationale Strafrechtsdogmatik. Ausgabe 7-8/2014. Retrieved from https://www.zwangsheirat.de/informationen/materialien/186-fachliteratur
14. Der Mord gemäß § 211 StGB: Wann wird aus einem Totschläger ein Mörder? Retrieved from https://www.anwalt.org/mord/
15. BGH, Beschluss vom 22.01.2019 – Aktenzeichen 1 StR 585/18. Retrieved from https://www.rechtsportal.de/Rechtsprechung/Rechtsprechung/2019/BGH

First Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

The subject of the research in the article submitted for review is, as follows from its name, optional signs of an objective side in the composition of crimes against life and health under the legislation of some countries of the Romano-German legal family (on the example of Germany and France). The stated boundaries of the study are observed by the author. The methodology of the research is not disclosed in the text of the article. The relevance of the research topic chosen by the author is beyond doubt and is justified by him as follows: "The legal aspects related to the criminal law assessment of optional features of the objective side in crimes against life and health have their own problems, which is emphasized by a large number of fundamental works [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7], as well as judicial practice. Currently, in most legal states of the world, the most significant public relations, including those related to the protection of life and health, are protected by criminal law [8, p. 207]. Therefore, the study of almost any phenomenon in criminal law requires understanding the experience of foreign countries. The comparative analysis of the legislation of the countries of the Romano-German legal family, carried out in the specialized literature, usually boils down to the study and comparison of the criminal law of Germany and France. Such an approach seems logical and traditional, since it is in these countries that there is a long history of legislation formation. In addition, we note that the laws of Germany and France are the closest to the domestic one due to the fact that they are all based on the reception of Roman law and are united by common structures, sources and similarity of the conceptual and legal apparatus." The scientific novelty of the work is manifested in a number of conclusions and suggestions of the author: "In the judicial practice of Germany, it is indicated that in order to qualify under section 213 of the Code, an insult or insult caused by the victim should not be caused by the precriminal behavior of the subject of the crime. Such a "remark" is relevant for the domestic legislator. Indeed, the subject of the crime may himself provoke the negative behavior of the victim, which subsequently forms an affected state. In view of this, it seems possible to provide a qualifying feature in Articles 107 and 113 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, indicating the behavior of the subject of the crime before the occurrence of a state of sudden strong mental excitement"; "It seems that in order to improve the demographic situation, increase the level of protection of the right to life, criminalization of the act related to termination of pregnancy is required, by analogy with the provisions of the Criminal Code of Germany. In view of this, it seems possible to add to Article 123 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation a qualifying sign related to the timing of artificial termination of pregnancy. The wording of such a sign may look like this: "Carrying out an artificial termination of pregnancy without medical indications by a person with a higher medical education of the appropriate profile, with a pregnancy period exceeding twenty-two weeks," etc. Thus, the article makes a certain contribution to the development of domestic legal science, but its individual provisions need to be clarified and deepened. The scientific style of the research is fully sustained by the author. The structure of the work is quite logical. In the introductory part of the article, the scientist substantiates the relevance of his chosen research topic. In the main part of the work, the author analyzes the optional features of the objective side in the composition of crimes against life and health under the legislation of Germany and France and makes recommendations for improving Russian criminal legislation. The final part of the article contains conclusions based on the results of the study. The content of the article corresponds to its title, but is not without some drawbacks. So, the author writes: "The legal aspects related to the criminal law assessment of optional features of the objective side in the composition of crimes against life and health have their own problems, which is emphasized by a large number of fundamental works [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7], as well as judicial practice." There is a stylistic error: "legal aspects... it has its own problems." The scientist notes: "Currently, in most legal states of the world, the most significant public relations, including those related to the protection of life and health, are protected by criminal law [8, p. 207]" - repetitions should be avoided ("relations for the protection of life and health are protected ..." (there is an error of coordination and stylistic error). The author indicates: "We consider the experience of France to be positive and, from the perspective of preventing criminal acts against life, we propose to supplement the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation Article 108.1, regulating responsibility for hiring for murder, and to state it in the following wording: "Article 108.1. Hiring to commit murder Hiring a person by persuasion, offers, bribery, deception or otherwise in order to commit it murders in the absence of the intention of this person to commit it ...". It is necessary to pay attention to the correct spelling of the term: "hiring", not "hiring" (by analogy with "loan", not "loan"). Thus, the article needs careful proofreading - it contains typos, spelling, punctuation, and stylistic errors (the list of typos and errors given in the review is not exhaustive!). The author writes: "1. It has been proved that the legislators of Germany and France, unlike the Russian one, do not attach serious importance to optional signs of the objective side when constructing the elements of crimes against life and health." The scientist does not explain why the approach of foreign legislators in relation to optional features of the objective side of the investigated crimes is not recognized by them as "serious". What are its disadvantages? All proposals to improve the current criminal legislation of Russia must be argued in detail, otherwise it seems that these proposals are the result of simple imitation. The bibliography of the study is presented by 8 sources (dissertations and scientific articles). In fact, the use of dissertations from the work is not seen - there are no references to them in the text of the article. It analyzes the criminal legislation of Germany and France, rather than theoretical material. There is no appeal to opponents, which is unacceptable for a scientific article. The provisions of the work are not justified to the necessary extent. Conclusions based on the results of the conducted research are available ("1. It is proved that the legislators of Germany and France, unlike the Russian one, do not attach serious importance to optional signs of the objective side when constructing the elements of crimes against life and health. 2. At the same time, certain features in the regulation of optional features of the objective side in the composition of crimes against life and health, which are not peculiar to domestic law, have nevertheless been found. These features include: - in Germany, in relation to murder in a state of passion, not only the determinants of the occurrence of a state of strong emotional excitement are taken into account, but also the precriminal behavior of the subject of the crime; - The German Criminal Code regulates responsibility for participation in a fight; it regulates responsibility for abortion, which is performed outside the prescribed period of pregnancy, at which it is possible. - the Criminal Code of France criminalizes hiring to commit murder if the mercenary did not plan to commit a criminal act. 3. In order to improve domestic legislation, taking into account the studied experience, the following changes can be proposed:
– following the example of the legislation of the Federal Republic of Germany, it seems possible to provide in Articles 107 and 113 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation a qualifying sign indicating the behavior of the subject of the crime before the onset of a state of sudden strong emotional excitement (affect); – by analogy with the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany, it is proposed to supplement Article 123 of the Criminal Code with a qualifying sign related to the timing of artificial termination of pregnancy. Its wording may look like this: "Carrying out an artificial termination of pregnancy without medical indications by a person with a higher medical education of the appropriate profile, with a pregnancy period exceeding 22 weeks"; – taking into account the legislative experience of France, it is possible to supplement the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation Article 108.1, establishing responsibility for hiring for murder"), however, some of the they need to be clarified (within the framework of the comments made above). The interest of the readership in the article submitted for review can be shown primarily by specialists in the field of criminal law, provided that it is substantially improved: disclosure of the research methodology, introduction of additional elements of scientific novelty and discussion, clarification and deepening of certain provisions of the work and final conclusions, elimination of violations in the design of the article.

Second Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

A REVIEW of an article on the topic "Optional signs of an objective side in the composition of crimes against life and health under the legislation of some countries of the Romano-German legal family (on the example of Germany and France)". The subject of the study. The article proposed for review is devoted to topical issues of establishing an objective side in the composition of crimes against life and health under the legislation of some countries of the Romano-German legal family. The author compares the provisions of the criminal codes of Russia, Germany, and France, and draws some conclusions that are useful for the legislator of our country. The specific subject of the study was the norms of the legislation of Russia, France, Germany, and the opinions of scientists. Research methodology. The purpose of the study is not stated directly in the article. At the same time, it can be clearly understood from the title and content of the work. The purpose can be designated as the consideration and resolution of certain problematic aspects of the issue of establishing an objective side in the composition of crimes against life and health under the legislation of some countries of the Romano-German legal family. Based on the set goals and objectives, the author has chosen the methodological basis of the study. In particular, the author uses a set of general scientific methods of cognition: analysis, synthesis, analogy, deduction, induction, and others. In particular, the methods of analysis and synthesis made it possible to summarize and share the conclusions of various scientific approaches to the proposed topic, as well as draw specific conclusions from the materials of judicial practice. The most important role was played by special legal methods. In particular, the author actively applied the formal legal method, which allowed for the analysis and interpretation of the norms of current legislation (first of all, the norms of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the Criminal Code of France, the Criminal Code of Germany). For example, the following conclusion of the author: "In view of this, it seems possible to provide a qualifying feature in Articles 107 and 113 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, indicating the behavior of the subject of the crime before the emergence of a state of sudden strong emotional excitement. There are indications of other optional signs of an objective side in the legislation of the Federal Republic of Germany. § 224 of the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany regulates the punishability of dangerous bodily harm. Responsibility for such an act occurs, including if it is committed through the use of poison or other harmful substances; with the use of weapons or other dangerous tools; from an ambush; with the help of life-threatening treatment. Unlike the domestic law, the Criminal Code of Germany regulates responsibility for participation in a fight. § 231 of the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany establishes that liability occurs if, as a result of a fight, the victim died or serious harm was caused or bodily injuries were inflicted, specified in § 226 of the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany." The author also provides examples from the judicial practice of different countries (although without a properly designed reference). For example, the following conclusion is made: "In the judicial practice of the Federal Republic of Germany, it is indicated that in order to qualify under Section 213 of the Code, an insult or insult caused by the victim should not be caused by the precriminal behavior of the subject of the crime. Such a "remark" is relevant for the domestic legislator. Indeed, the subject of the crime can provoke the negative behavior of the victim himself, which subsequently forms an affected state." Thus, the methodology chosen by the author is fully adequate to the purpose of the study, allows you to study all aspects of the topic in its entirety. Relevance. The relevance of the stated issues is beyond doubt. There are both theoretical and practical aspects of the significance of the proposed topic. From the point of view of theory, the topic of establishing an objective side in the composition of crimes against life and health under the legislation of some countries of the Romano-German legal family is complex and ambiguous. It is difficult to argue with the author that "The comparative analysis of the legislation of the countries of the Romano-German legal family, conducted in the specialized literature, usually boils down to the study and comparison of the criminal law of Germany and France. This approach seems logical and traditional, since it is in these countries that there is a long history of legislation formation. In addition, we note that the laws of Germany and France are the closest to the domestic one due to the fact that they are all based on the reception of Roman law and are united by common structures, sources and similarity of the conceptual and legal apparatus." Thus, scientific research in the proposed field should only be welcomed. Scientific novelty. The scientific novelty of the proposed article is beyond doubt. Firstly, it is expressed in the author's specific conclusions. Among them, for example, is the following conclusion: "certain features in the regulation of optional features of the objective side in crimes against life and health, which are not peculiar to domestic law, have nevertheless been found. These features include: - in Germany, in relation to murder in a state of passion, not only the determinants of the occurrence of a state of strong emotional excitement are taken into account, but also the precriminal behavior of the subject of the crime; - The German Criminal Code regulates responsibility for participation in a fight; it regulates responsibility for abortion, which is performed outside the prescribed period of pregnancy, at which it is possible; "The French Criminal Code criminalizes hiring to commit murder if the mercenary did not plan to commit a criminal act." These and other theoretical conclusions can be used in further scientific research. Secondly, the author suggests ideas for improving the current legislation. In particular, "In order to improve domestic legislation, taking into account the studied experience, the following changes can be proposed: – following the example of the legislation of the Federal Republic of Germany, it seems possible to provide in Articles 107 and 113 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation a qualifying sign indicating the behavior of the subject of the crime before the occurrence of a state of sudden strong emotional excitement (affect); – by analogy with the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany It is proposed to supplement Article 123 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with a qualifying sign related to the timing of artificial termination of pregnancy. Its wording may look like this: "Carrying out an artificial termination of pregnancy without medical indications by a person with a higher medical education of the appropriate profile, with a pregnancy period exceeding 22 weeks"; – taking into account the legislative experience of France, it is possible to supplement the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation Article 108.1, which establishes responsibility for hiring for murder." The above conclusion may be relevant and useful for law-making activities. Thus, the materials of the article may be of particular interest to the scientific community in terms of contributing to the development of science. Style, structure, content. The subject of the article corresponds to the specialization of the journal "Legal Studies", as it is devoted to legal problems related to the qualification of crimes. The content of the article fully corresponds to the title, as the author has considered the stated problems, and has generally achieved the purpose of the study. The quality of the presentation of the study and its results should be recognized as fully positive. The subject, objectives, methodology and main results of the study follow directly from the text of the article. The design of the work does not fully meet the requirements for this kind of work. In particular, there are no properly designed references to foreign legal acts and court decisions. Bibliography. The quality of the literature used should be assessed on an average basis. The author actively uses the literature presented by authors from Russia (Aitova O.F., Artyushina O.V., Druzhkov S.N., Krotov S.E., Luneva A.V. and others). At the same time, given the purpose of the study, it is worth adding the works of foreign scientists in order to fully reveal the subject of the study. Thus, the works of the above authors correspond to the research topic, but do not have a sign of sufficiency, do not contribute to the disclosure of various aspects of the topic. Appeal to opponents.
The author conducted a serious analysis of the current state of the problem under study. All quotes from scientists are accompanied by author's comments. That is, the author shows different points of view on the problem and tries to argue for a more correct one in his opinion. Conclusions, the interest of the readership. The conclusions are fully logical, as they are obtained using a generally accepted methodology. The article may be of interest to the readership after correcting the comments in the review, in particular regarding the indication of references to foreign legal acts and judicial practice, as well as the opinions of foreign scientists. Based on the above, summing up all the positive and negative sides of the article, "I recommend sending it for revision"

Third Peer Review

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The subject of the study. In the peer-reviewed article "Optional features of the objective side in the composition of crimes against life and health according to the legislation of some countries of the Romano-German legal family (on the example of Germany and France)", the subject of the study is the optional features of the objective side in the composition of crimes against life and health on the example of the criminal legislation of Germany and France. Research methodology. The methodological apparatus consists of the following dialectical techniques and methods of scientific cognition: analysis, abstraction, induction, deduction, hypothesis, analogy, synthesis, typology, classification, systematization and generalization. The main research method is comparative law. The relevance of research. The author explains the relevance of the topic by saying that "... the study of almost any phenomenon in criminal law requires understanding the experience of foreign countries." The opinions of leading Russian legal scientists (N.N. Tarasov and N.V. Ogorodnikova) are given as arguments: "... conducting comparative analysis today is one of the conditions for scientific correctness, acts as an integral element of the legal thinking system, making the research reliable and justified. In addition, the deliberate and selective consideration by the Russian legislator of foreign experience can contribute to the optimal resolution of a whole range of problems, including those in domestic criminal law theory and practice." Thus, the relevance of the topic is beyond doubt. Scientific novelty. Without questioning the importance of previous scientific research, which served as the theoretical basis for this work, nevertheless, it can be noted that this article also contains some noteworthy provisions (for example, the author's conclusion that "... following the example of German legislation, it seems possible to provide in Articles 107 and 113 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation a qualifying feature indicating the behavior of the subject of the crime before the occurrence of a state of sudden strong emotional excitement (affect); by analogy with the Criminal Code of Germany, it is proposed to supplement Article 123 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with a qualifying sign related to the timing of artificial termination of pregnancy. Its wording may look like this: "Performing an artificial termination of pregnancy without medical indications by a person with a higher medical education of the appropriate profile, with a pregnancy period exceeding 22 weeks"). There are other provisions in the article that can be regarded as a contribution to Russian science. Style, structure, content. In general, the article is written in a scientific style using special terminology. The content of the article corresponds to its title. The material is presented consistently, competently and clearly. The volume requirements have been met. The article is logically divided into parts. There are no comments on the content. Bibliography. The author has used a sufficient number of doctrinal sources, but, unfortunately, there are few references to publications of recent years. Appeal to opponents. The author provides different points of view on certain aspects of the topic he declared. Appeals to opponents are correct. Conclusions, the interest of the readership. The article submitted for review "Optional signs of an objective side in the composition of crimes against life and health under the legislation of some countries of the Romano-German legal family (on the example of Germany and France)" may be recommended for publication. The article meets the requirements for scientific articles of the journal "Legal Research", is devoted to an urgent topic, has practical significance, and is distinguished by scientific novelty. A publication on this topic may be of interest to a wide readership, primarily specialists in the field of criminal law and comparative studies, and may also be useful for teachers and students of law schools and faculties.