Introduction: Infliction of harm to life and health due to medical errors is common for the whole world and post-Soviet countries, in particular. The problem of these errors is one of the most important in medical law, although there is no unified concept of it. A small number of sentences in cases of criminal negligence of medical professionals indicates a high latency and often unprovability of this crime in a number of post-Soviet countries. The aim: To disclose the objective and subjective prerequisites of a medical error, reasons for its occurrence, to establish the grounds for criminal liability of medical professionals in case they commit an error and to examine the judicial practice in this regard. Also, to define the concept and types of circumstances exempting criminal liability and their impact on criminal liability issues concerning medical professionals. Materials and methods: The study is based on the Belarusian, Kazakh, Moldavian and Ukrainian statutory acts as well as international acts, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), national court judgments. Such methods as dialectical, comparative, analytic, synthetic and comprehensive have been used in the paper. Review: On the basis of the study, it has been established that there is no unified concept of a medical error, medical personnel are fairly brought to criminal liability only if they commit an unjustifiable error in the presence of all the mandatory elements of a crime provided for in the relevant article of the Criminal Code. At the same time, it is extremely difficult to prove existence of such an error. Besides, at the state levels, causes and mechanisms of occurring errors have not been revealed, they are not even discussed, which makes it impossible to outline measures to prevent them or reduce their frequency and degree of danger. Conclusions: The struggle against medical errors should encompass a number of such activities as standardization of clinical treatment protocols, further education of medical professionals and lawyers in regard to patient safety, thorough investigation of each incident in order to exclude a justifiable error or circumstances exempting criminal liability. Equitable, severe and uncompromising punishments for perpetrators should be an effective means preventing commission of crimes in medicine.

This article deals with the protection of the right of the civilian population and medical workers to health. The issue of rights violations arises in connection with the armed conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, which has been ongoing since 2014. On 24 February 2022, its second phase began, which has been characterised by a large-scale offensive by the Russian army. The hostilities are still ongoing, and some areas are temporarily occupied. The aim of the present paper is to reveal the essence of the main international legal, and national means of protecting the right to health in a period of armed conflict. Methods. A combination of general scientific and special scientific approaches was used, as well as a number of methods, namely: dialectical, comparative, analytical, synthetic, and complex methods and the method of generalisation. The results of the study have proved that the existing system of regulatory and institutional means of protection of human rights to health, both at the international and national level, is not able to do this successfully. Conclusions. The right to health in the current period of the armed conflict is limited legally and forcibly for those who stay in the rear by the state on whose territory the armed conflict continues. It is illegal when one of the parties to the conflict violates IHL norms. Despite the normative means of ensuring and protecting the right to health and a wide range of institutional protections established by the parties to the armed conflict – Ukraine and the Russian Federation – the existing system is unable to protect the right of civilians to health. First of all, this is due to the Russian Federation’s violation of the established IHL rules. At the same time, the lack of a quick and effective protection mechanism leads to the fact that civilians, and sometimes medical workers, increasingly feel defenceless against aggressors. Therefore, it seems that the world community should review the existing approaches and establish more effective means of protecting human rights, including the right to health.

The aim: To reveal the features of the epidemic safety and security legal regulation in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Poland, Russia and Ukraine during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods: This study is based on Belarusian, Kazakh, Moldavian, Polish, Russian and Ukrainian regulatory acts as well as national court judgments. Such methods as dialectical, comparative, analytic, synthetic, comprehensive, statistical and generalization approaches have been used in the article. Conclusions: the study confirmed that the direct impact on the spread and dynamics of morbidity during the COVID-19 pandemic in the countries to be analyzed is determined by: the presence of government agencies and special institutions involved in combating, preventing and monitoring the spread of infectious diseases and their readiness for effective measures in emergency situations caused, in particular, by epidemics; timeliness and duration of quarantine restrictions, their severity and scope; observance of these restrictions by the population; effectiveness of law enforcement responses to violations. The strengthening of administrative and/or criminal liability had no significant impact on the morbidity situation in the country.

No abstract

No abstract