The System of Crimes against Life Under the Legislation of Certain States of the Romano-Germanic Legal Family

Abstract

Issues related to the characterization and analysis of the sources of criminal legislation of certain foreign states, which regulate issues related to the legal consolidation of the system of crimes against human life, are studied. In the criminal legislation of the states representing the Romano-Germanic legal family, life and health are a priority object of criminal law protection. Norms that establish responsibility for crimes against a person's life are a component of ensuring public security in the conditions of the liberal doctrine of human rights. The laws on criminal responsibility of these states reflect the advantages of the well-known «classical» school of law, i.e. here, the life and health of a person is among other objects of criminal law protection in one of the first places. The social importance of such social relations is manifested primarily through the application of criminal punishment in the form of life imprisonment depending on the gravity of the committed act. There is also an increase in the circumstances that aggravate the responsibility for committing such acts. In general, crimes against life are differentiated into simple, qualified and privileged murders and murder due to negligence. According to the criminal legislation of foreign countries, the regulation of crimes against life has certain differences in comparison with the system of such crimes under the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which relate not only to the names and places of these crimes in the system of criminal codes, but also to their list, types and degree of punishment for their commission. Assaults on life are always condemned by the state and entail the application of the most severe punishments for their commission. Traditions and peculiarities of national legislation must also be taken into account. As a rule, the codes of different states contain special instructions for cases in which a person who commits intentional murder is subject to the most severe punishment, and very often such a punishment is life imprisonment. The fight against the deprivation of human life is carried out in every state. The right to life is fundamental and most valuable for every person. And such crimes, as a rule, have a systematic structure.