|
Mutual aid in emergent situations is the essential part of Confucianism, and also the critical reason that we, human beings, are superior to other animals. However, in the era of science, human interaction becomes more and more separated. Few people would intend to give immediate assistances to others in danger. Such kind cool-blooded behavior is merely criticized in the viewpoint of morality instead of criminal liability in our country. We believe it be contradictory to legal conscience of the public. In the Anglo-American law countries such as the United States and Canada, there are two important legal policies to manage such problems. First, they make so-called “Good Samaritan Law” that means a legal principle that prevents a rescuer who has voluntarily helped a victim in distress from being successfully sued for 'wrongdoing' except with gross negligence or intention. Its purpose is to keep people from being so reluctant to help a stranger in need for fear of legal repercussions if they made some mistake in treatment. Second, even the laypersons who abandon the rescue obligations may be criminally liable. In German, such a misbehaver belongs to so-called “Crime on Neglect or Non-assistance” (or “Unterlassene Hilfeleistung”)that is one of the Chapter “Crime against Public Safety” (or Achtunddzwanzigster Abschnitt. Gemeingefährliche Straftaten). In other words, it is a kind of crime against social legal interest (or “Rechtsgut”). In Japan, there is no such a statute, and the only possibility is to ascribe to “Crime of Abandonment” ( or “Aussetzung”) that belongs to the category of personal legal interest. The situation is similar in our country. We think that there is no criminal immunity for any laypersons who neglect the obligation of emergency aid in the viewpoints of jurisprudence, constitution or criminal theory (or “Die Lehre vom Verechen od. Verbrechenslehre”). Either “Aussetzung” or “Unterlassene Hilfeleistung” should be taken into consideration for such situations. According to the current criminal law and its related theory in our country, it is difficult to ascribe the criminal liability for those who refuse to help others in danger to “Aussetzung”. However, we think there are at least six critical points to be considered before we exclude the possibility of “Aussetzung” from such cases. 1. The patterns of “Aussetzung” described by current theories are not absolutely accurate. It is difficult to exclude “neglect” or “non-assistance” from the patterns of “Aussetzung” by persons with no obligations from the words (or “Wer einen Menschen”) expressed in Article 293 in our criminal law. The original draft of our criminal law ever definitely documented that the persons with no obligations are liable in both “abandonment” and “neglect”. Current popular theory adopts teleological interpretation instead of grammatical interpretation, and thus concludes that “neglect” is excluded from the scope of “Wer einen Menschen”. However, it is still reasonable for us to re-evaluate if such definitions are accurate at present when the concept of emergency medicine has made such advances in recent decades. 2. The second question is if the laypersons are free from the obligations of emergency aid. If the answer is no, Article 294 (or “Auf Freiheitsstrafe von einem Jahr bis zu zehn Jahren ist zu erkennen, wenn der Täter”) would apply to the scenerios we are discussing. We think that anyone in the nearby has the obligations of emergency rescue and aid because the person(s) in danger is (are) under control or surveillance of the former. The obligation for laypersons has also been confirmed by the evidence-based medicine although current popular theory still suggests that it only comes from statutes and contracts. 3. In the viewpoint of “Unechte Begehungsdelikte”, it is questionable that if the laypersons may commit the crime of Article 293 by the means of “Unterlassen”. 4. The patterns of “abandonment” includes “active abandonment” and “passive abandonment”. Some theory suggests that the patterns of so-called “active abandonment” include “moving to the danger zone”, “active separation from rescue” and “passive separation from rescue”. It is therein questionable that if the “neglect of emergency rescue” is in fact a kind of “passive separation”, because there is no clear-cut distinction between “passive separation” and “neglect”. 5. The combined use of Article 294 and Article 15 (“Unterlassen”) may be another alternative in discussing criminal liability for the laypersons who do not provide immediate and effective rescue at emergency situations. Besides, the behavior of “neglect” or “non-assistance” may be also considered as a kind of “active abandonment” committed by an “unechte Unterlassungsdelikte”. 6. Last but not least, it should be questioned that if the obligation mentioned in Articles 293 and 294 is the criterion in defining “Sonderdelikte”. If the answer is yes, the laypersons can be imputed to an “unechte Sonderdelikte” of Article 294 and their liability be analyzed by the theory of “Sonderdelikten’ or “Pflichtdelikten”. In conclusion, “neglect of emergency rescue” committed by the laypersons is a crime with the characteristics of “abstrakte Gefahrdungsdelikte” and “Unterlassungsdelikte”. Such a crime should be judged as an “unechte Sonderdelikte” of Article 294 by our current criminal law. Otherwise, it should be considered as “Unterlassene Hilfeleistung” in the viewpoint of social legal interests.
|