Commentary to article 279. Violation of safety rules when handling microbiological or other biological agents or toxins of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan

     1. Violation of environmental requirements during the storage, destruction or burial of microbiological or other biological agents or toxins, or their illegal import into the Republic of Kazakhstan for processing, storage or burial, if this has created a threat of causing significant harm to human health or the environment, —    

is punishable by a fine in the amount of two hundred to five hundred monthly calculation indices or in the amount of the convicted person's salary or other income for a period of two to five months, or by restriction of liberty for a term of up to three years, or by imprisonment for a term of up to two years.    

2. The same act that caused pollution, poisoning or contamination of the environment, causing harm to human health or mass death of the animal or plant world, as well as committed in an area with an environmental emergency, —    

 is punishable by imprisonment for a term of up to five years.   

  3. The acts provided for in the first or second parts of this Article, which negligently caused mass illness of people or death of a person, —    

 are punishable by imprisonment for a term of three to eight years.

     The object of the crime in question is environmental safety, which, in accordance with Article 1 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On National Security of the Republic of Kazakhstan" dated June 26, 1998, refers to the state of protection of vital interests and rights of individuals, society and the state from threats arising from anthropogenic and other environmental impacts.    

 The subject of the crime is microbiological and other biological agents, as well as biological toxins.   

  Microbiological agents should be understood as microorganisms (microbes) – the smallest, mostly single-celled organisms visible only through a microscope: bacteria, microscopic fungi and algae, as well as viruses characterized by a huge variety of species, capable of existing in various conditions, used in food and other industries. According to the degree of risk of working with them, microorganisms are divided into non–pathogenic; conditionally pathogenic: pathogenic; potentially capable of transmitting infection, pathogenic - pathogens of particularly dangerous infections. The last two categories of microorganisms belong to the category of toxins.

    Other biological agents that are not related to microorganisms are mainly multicellular organisms of a biological nature (for example, animals used in scientific research of a diagnostic and experimental nature, such as mice, rats, dogs, etc.).   

   Toxins are compounds of a bacterial, plant, or animal nature that, when ingested, can cause disease or death in animals, plants, or humans.   

  Microbiological toxins include pathogenic microorganisms that cause diseases of plants, animals and humans.  

   It should be noted that the correct definition of the subject of the crime in question is important for the correct qualification of the crime, since violations of environmental requirements when handling chemical, radioactive and biological substances are the subject of art. 278 of the Criminal Code. It will be difficult for a layman to distinguish, say, the radioactive substances specified in Article 278 of the Criminal Code from microbiological or other biological agents or toxins; as well as, in principle, to distinguish biological agents or toxins from chemical substances. The legislator in art . 278 of the Criminal Code uses the concept of substances; Article 279 of the Criminal Code refers to agents or toxins. This difference suggests that Article 279 of the Criminal Code refers to substances (substances) of a more active nature.     

 The objective side of the crime under consideration is characterized by a violation of environmental requirements when storing, destroying or burying the above-mentioned items or illegally importing them into the Republic of Kazakhstan for processing, storage or burial, if this posed a threat of causing significant harm to human health or the environment.    

 The Environmental Code of January 9, 2007 prescribes a number of environmental requirements that must be met when handling industrial and consumer waste, in particular, storage, destruction and burial.    

  The import of items specified in the disposition to the Republic of Kazakhstan for processing, burial or storage may be carried out only with the special permission of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is prohibited to import products that do not have the technology to neutralize or dispose of them after use.    

 Criminal liability for violation of these requirements under Part 1 of Article 279 occurs if there is a threat of causing significant harm to human health or the environment, and if certain consequences specified in the law occur, liability occurs under parts 2 or 3 of this article.    

 The qualifying criteria provided for in this article are identical to those provided for in Article 278 of the Criminal Code (see the commentary to Article 278 of the Criminal Code).   

  The subjective side of the crime is characterized by indirect intent, and in relation to the consequences of a crime in the form of mass illness of people or death of a person, there is a double form of guilt.  

    The subject of a crime is a sane individual who has reached the age of 16 at the time of its commission and is authorized by special regulatory legal acts to handle microbiological or other biological agents or toxins.    

 The crimes provided for in parts 1 and 2 of art. 279 relate to crimes of minor gravity.    

 The crime provided for in Part 3 of Article 279 refers to crimes of moderate severity.

Commentary from 2007 to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan from the Honored Worker of Kazakhstan, Doctor of Law, Professor, Academician of the Kazakhstan National Academy of Natural Sciences BORCHASHVILI I.Sh.                  

Date of amendment of the act:  08/02/2007 Date of adoption of the act:  08/02/2007 Place of acceptance:  NO Authority that adopted the act: 180000000000 Region of operation:  100000000000 NPA registration number assigned by the regulatory body:  167 Status of the act:  new Sphere of legal relations:  028000000000 Report form:  COMM Legal force:  1900 Language of the Act:  rus

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