Comment to article 303. Violation of safety rules during construction, operation or repair of main pipelines of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan

     1. Violation of safety rules during the construction, operation or repair of main pipelines, if this act negligently caused serious or moderate harm to human health or major damage., —      

is punishable by restriction of liberty for a term of up to four years, or by arrest for a term of three to six months, or by imprisonment for a term of up to two years with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years.      

2. The same act that negligently caused the death of a person, —      

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

3. The act provided for in the first part of this Article, which negligently caused the death of two or more persons, —  

   is punishable by imprisonment for a term of four to ten years.

     The public danger of a crime is expressed in the fact that if safety regulations are violated during the construction, operation or repair of main pipelines, significant harm is caused to human health or property relations.      

The immediate object of the crime is public relations in the field of ensuring safety during the construction, operation or repair of main pipelines. An additional object should be recognized as the life and health of victims, property relations.      

The subject of the crime is the main pipelines, i.e. those carrying the main stream of the substance contents. Main pipelines are a complex of structures and technical facilities designed for the transportation of materials: storage tanks for materials, pumping units, compressor stations, telecommunications equipment, pipes themselves, which are the main ones in the pipeline system.      

Auxiliary pipelines (lines branching off to consumers and warehouses intended for temporary or permanent storage of material for the purpose of its subsequent use) are not the subject of this crime.      The objective side of the crime is expressed in: a) violation of safety rules during the construction, operation or repair of main pipelines, b) the occurrence of socially dangerous consequences specified in the disposition of art.303 of the Criminal Code (careless infliction of serious or moderate harm to human health or causing major damage), c) causal relationship between them.      

The disposition of Article 303 of the Criminal Code is a blank one and therefore refers to special rules governing the construction, operation or repair of main pipelines. In this case, it should be established which specific point in these rules was not followed by the guilty person.      

Violation of safety rules during the construction of main pipelines means a deviation from building regulations during their construction, which created a threat to the safety of the pipeline and led to harmful consequences (the use of defective building materials, non-compliance with pipe laying technology, poor welding or insulation, etc.).      

Violation of the rules of operation of the pipeline may consist in deviation from the established rules for using the pipeline for its intended purpose in accordance with its technical capabilities, for example, exceeding the permissible pressure when pumping oil or gas, improper monitoring of measuring instruments, failure to comply with the frequency of preventive maintenance, access to work by untrained persons, etc.      

Violation of safety rules during the repair of the main pipeline may consist in non-compliance with established standards and regulations during the repair work, ensuring safe operation of the pipeline, failure to repair detected damage, installation of substandard parts, etc.     

The crime should be considered completed from the moment of the onset of criminal consequences, expressed in the negligent infliction of serious or moderate harm to human health or in causing major damage.      

When determining serious harm to health due to negligence, one should be guided by the signs of Part 1 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code.      

Signs of negligent serious or moderate harm to human health are determined according to Order of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On approval of the Rules for the organization and conduct of forensic medical examination" dated December 20, 2004 No. 875/1. In the case of serious injury to health caused by negligence during the commission of this crime, additional qualifications are not required under Part 1 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code, since the act is fully covered by Part 1 of Article 303 of the Criminal Code.      

Major damage is provided for in the note to Article 299 of the Criminal Code, and is determined in the manner similar to that described in the analysis of the consideration of this crime.      

The subject of the crime is a general, natural, sane person who has reached the age of 16 and is engaged in the construction, operation or repair of main pipelines. Damage to the pipeline by unauthorized persons entails liability depending on the socially dangerous act and its consequences. For example, for connecting to a pipeline for the purpose of pumping oil, the guilty person is additionally responsible for theft (Articles 175-179 of the Criminal Code).      

The subjective side of the crime is characterized by a careless form of guilt, in the form of criminal arrogance or criminal negligence. The motives and goals of the perpetrator's behavior do not affect the qualification of the deed, but they are taken into account when individualizing punishment.      

The legislator indicates the qualifying signs in this crime: those who negligently caused the death of one person, and those who negligently caused the death of two or more persons as a particularly qualifying sign.

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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