Сompulsory medical measures in the structure of criminal law

Сompulsory medical measures in the structure of criminal law impact.Background: modern criminal law allows for an ambiguous interpretation of a number of fundamental categories, which also include compulsory medical measures. In this regard, there are difficulties in determining their essence and place in the structure of criminal law impact. Objective: definition of the concept and socio-legal nature of compulsory medical measures. Methodology: general scientific and private methods of scientific cognition: system-structural, inductive, deductive, and content analysis. Results: the conducted research allowed us to establish the essential features of compulsory medical measures, to formulate the concept of the institution under consideration and to determine its place in the structure of criminal law impact. Conclusions: measures of criminal-legal influence imposed in connection with the commission of a socially dangerous act against a person suffering from a mental disorder, by their essence and socio-legal nature, are separated from criminal liability.

The legal nature of compulsory medical measures lies in the fact that these are criminal-legal security measures, the essence of which is the compulsory treatment of persons who have committed illegal acts and are, by their mental state, a danger to society. They are not punishment, they are not recognized as a form of implementation of criminal responsibility. Their purpose, first of all, is an attempt to restore a stable mental state of the patient and eliminate the possibility of committing socially dangerous acts.

The statement is often made that “compulsory measures of a medical nature are a form of implementation of criminal liability”. This is argued by the fact that compulsory measures of a medical nature and other measures of criminal law have a number of common features: they are used for the commission of socially dangerous acts provided for by the criminal law, are compulsory in nature and are associated with various kinds of deprivations and restrictions.
However, this approach to criminal liability and the inclusion of compulsory medical measures in it is not entirely correct.

Thirdly, by its very nature, criminal liability is a repressive, punitive measure, while compulsory treatment is primarily of social significance and is of a medical nature.

Based on the analysis, the content of compulsory medical measures is determined. It includes the complex of medical treatments, which can help to recognize conditions or determinate the fact of the presence or absence of diseases, healing, rehabilitative and other medical measures, which contribute to recover or improve mental state of the patient. The features of determining the sanity or insanity of a person who has made a socially dangerous act are reflected, as it is the key point of the guilt, a subjective case of the criminal liability, sentencing punishment or other measures of a criminal nature.In conclusion, Assignment of compulsory medical measures causes restrictions on the patient's freedom, which indicates their similarity to criminal punishment. Their usage is based on principles of legality, humanity and respect for human and civil rights. It protects citizens from any form of discrimination caused by the presence of any diseases.