Features and Shortcomings of the Criminal Law Mechanism for Countering Activities Aimed at Encouraging Suicide

The methods by which a perpetrator encourages in another person the desire and determination to commit suicide can be very diverse. Some of them are characteristic of causing suicide; others (the list is extensive) involve inducement to commit suicide. The legislator considers «causing» and «inducing» as independent acts aimed at encouraging another person to commit suicide. However, in literature and law enforcement practice, different approaches to the legal assessment of these acts have developed. The problems in distinguishing between them are partly due to the shortcomings of Articles 110 and 110.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Common to both causing to and inducing to is their purposeful nature. In essence, they act as forms of involvement and imply the perpetrator’s desire to encourage the victim to commit suicide. It is concluded that it is necessary to establish liability for causing suicide and incitement to commit suicide within the framework of one article, separately from assisting those who already have the intention to commit suicide. Combining these forms of involvement in suicidal behavior in a separate article will allow us to demonstrate their common semantic meaning. The issue of the legal assessment of public activity aimed at encouraging an indefinite number of people to commit suicide and the admissibility of classifying it as involvement in suicidal behavior is also relevant.

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