EXCLUSION OF CRIMINAL LIABILITY OF MEDICAL WORKERS FOR PROVIDING MEDICAL AID IN TEMPORARY OCCUPIED TERRITORIES OF UKRAINE

Abstract

The article analyses the objective aspect of the criminal offence under Part 4 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine ‘Collaboration Activities’, namely, conducting eco-nomic activities in cooperation with the aggressor State, illegal authorities established in the temporarily occupied territory, including the occupation administration of the aggressor State. These features of the objective side formally include direct provision of medical care to patients by a medical professional in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The author examines the provisions of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols which regulate the procedure for providing medical care in the temporarily occupied terri-tories, the forms of cooperation of a medical professional with the illegal authorities of the occupying power or the aggressor State, and the issue of exclusion of criminal liability of a medical professional. The author summarises the scientific positions of criminal law experts on the possibility of excluding criminal liability of a medical professional for providing medical care in the temporarily occupied territories. Based on the results of the study, the following conclusions are made: 1) the subject of the crime under Part 4 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is only a medical professional registered as an individual en-trepreneur; 2) the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols provide that medical practice is a type of activity which should be carried out in the occupied territories on a permanent basis; 3) a healthcare professional for the provision of medical care in the tem-porarily occupied territories is not subject to criminal liability in connection with the exer-cise of the subjective right to conduct legitimate business activities in accordance with the requirements of the Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12.08.1949 and the Protocol Additional to the Convention Relative to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts of 08 June 1977.