CIRCUMSTANCES PRECLUDING CRIMINAL ACTS AND THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

The period of the new coronavirus infection pandemic has affected all spheres of public life. The mechanism of criminal law protection is no exception here. Overcoming the consequences of the global Covid-19 epidemic has raised quite a few questions in terms of the institution of circumstances precluding the criminality of an act (Chapter 8 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The article studies three of them – necessary defense, extreme necessity and reasonable risk. The purpose of this study is to identify the features of implementing the relevant criminal law during the pandemic, and to assess their sufficiency to resolve specific situations. The work uses the methods of logical and system analysis, as well as the content analysis of publications and synthesis of the best precedents in law enforcement practice. The necessity of a legislative definition of a privileged type of emergency, designed for use in a situation of medical triage of patients, has been substantiated.