Does taking a victim to the emergency room after causing a traffic accident reduce criminal liability?
After causing a traffic accident, Mr. H.'s friend took the initiative to take the victim to the emergency room. Doctors determined that the victim was treated promptly, so the rate of physical injury was significantly reduced. In this case, if criminally prosecuted, will his friend be considered for a reduction in criminal liability? The concern of Mr. Tran Ngoc H. (Vinh Loc ward, Nghe An).
Reply: According to Point b, Clause 1, Article 51 of the 2015 Penal Code, amended and supplemented in 2017, "The offender has prevented or reduced the harm of the crime" is one of the mitigating circumstances of criminal responsibility in one of the following cases:
- “Preventing the harm of a crime” is when a crime has been committed and the offender, himself or through objective influence, has used all possible capabilities to prevent the harm of the crime from occurring;
- "Reducing the harm of a crime" is when a crime has been committed, the harm of the crime is happening and the criminal himself or through objective influence has used all possible capabilities to prevent the harm of the crime from continuing to happen or becoming greater.
Judicial practice shows that when applying this circumstance, the court often considers the overall attitude, motive and level of impact of the behavior. If the offender voluntarily and proactively helps the victim, such action shows remorse, a sense of responsibility to remedy the consequences and is considered an important basis for the Trial Council to reduce the sentence.
Thus, in the above situation, if there is a basis to determine that Mr. H.'s friend's timely taking of the victim to the emergency room contributed to reducing the extent of bodily injury, the prosecution agency may consider granting the mitigating circumstance "the offender reduced the harm of the crime" according to Point b, Clause 1, Article 51 of the 2015 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017).
