Development of domestic criminal legislationon crimes related to the improper provision of medical care in the pre-revolutionary period

Cherenkova Maria Germanovna

In this study, the author attempted to consider and structure the legislative acts and legal regulation of the activities of doctors in Russia. Based on the available research, the author of the article also considers the key periods in the development of criminal legislation on crimes related to inappropriate provision of medical care. The features of the development of the system in the field of medicine and health care, as well as the criminal legislation on the crimes of doctors, in connection with the inadequate provision of medical care were identified. It was concluded that doctors in different periods bore different responsibilities, and criminal legislation was formed only at the beginning of the 20th century. At the same time, by the end of Peter the Great's rule, the Russian Empire had finally formed a legislative framework regulating the activities of medical workers, as well as their responsibility for their activities. Of course, there was still a lack of sufficient elaboration of the details, in particular, there was no Charter regulating the activities of civilian doctors and healers, and therefore, the Military and Naval Statutes were often the main sources of law that regulated all medical activities in Russia. At the same time, traditional medicine and healers were still not regulated in any way, as well as the activities of hospitals attached to church institutions, and, accordingly, the activities of church doctors. In the middle of the XIX century, under Alexander II, a key legal act was adopted, which was in force until the February Revolution of 1917, and also served as the basis for building the Soviet legal framework regulating the responsibility of doctors-the Medical Charter of 1857, which was included in the XIII volume of the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire. The Medical Charter was created on the basis of the Military and Naval Charter of Peter I, as well as other Decrees and laws. Thanks to the work of pathologists and the functioning of morgues, it became much easier to determine the responsibility of doctors for the death of a patient – when examining a patient's corpse, as well as when opening bodies, it was possible to determine the cause of death in more detail and more accurately. In this connection, at the end of the XIX century, a system of social support for an impressive part of the country's population was formed, and therefore, representatives of such groups of the population could receive proper medical care. It is worth noting that, on the basis of the Medical Charter of 1853, doctors were obliged to provide timely and appropriate medical care to such people, and the responsibility of doctors did not depend on the representative of which group of the population needed medical care.

Keywords:Government regulation, pre-revolutionary period, medical science, medical care, regulations, assistance, doctors' crimes.