Some Problems of the Execution of a Court decision on the Appointment of Compulsory Medical Measures
Compulsory measures of a medical nature are regulated by both criminal, procedural and penal legislation, though not to the full extent. In particular, many problems arise immediately after a court decision has been made in relation to a person who has committed a crime in a state of insanity, as well as on the appointment of these measures, and at the stage of a court decision execution. First of all, it is necessary to note the problem of the legal regime for the application of a preventive measure in the form of taking into and keeping in custody, as well as other procedural coercion measures when the decision on the appointment of compulsory medical measures to persons awaiting referral to a medical organization has been made. The application of compulsory procedural measures to the mentally ill seems unreasonable, bearing in mind the purposes of compulsory medical measures, non-counting the time of compulsory medical measures within the term of imprisonment, loss of the indictment period due to the termination of the criminal case. The application of procedural coercion by courts after the termination of a criminal case and appointment of compulsory medical measures against the persons waiting to be sent to a medical institution appear out of the objective need to control the behavior of such persons for a certain period. In this regard, there appears a problem of a time interval between a decision on the appointment of compulsory medical measures and the date when the person is delivered to the medical institution. It seems possible to solve this problem, if we eliminate the 5-day period when a copy of the court resolution is sent to the medical institution and make it possible for a medical institution to make a decision on accepting and treatment of the person in absentia. Another important problem is a competent authority to ensure the delivery of people for compulsory treatment. In practice, due to the incorrect application of the criminal procedure law, there is no clear idea of who should bring a person for compulsory treatment. Meanwhile, since compulsory medical measures are aimed at curing, improving the mental state of mentally ill people as well as preventing them from committing new crimes, health authorities seem to be the most suitable for this role. It seems possible to authorize the security service of psychiatric hospitals operating on the basis of the Federal Law “On ensuring the protection of psychiatric hospitals (hospitals) of a specialized type with intensive supervision” to deliver such persons to medical institutions, without involving criminal procedural forces and means, which seems to take into account the status and mental health of the persons as well as their rights and freedoms.