Criminal liability for failure to provide emergency assistance

Time and time again, incidents occur in which people are beaten up or robbed and ignored by passersby, even though this is a punishable offense. In Switzerland, every person has a legal obligation to provide emergency assistance.

According to Art. 128 SCC, anyone who fails to help a person whom he has injured or a person who is in immediate life-threatening danger, although he could reasonably be expected to do so under the circumstances, or who prevents or hinders others from offering aid (para. 2), is liable to a custodial sentence not exceeding three years or to a monetary penalty.

DUTY OF THE INFRINGER TO PROVIDE EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE (ART. 128 PARA. 1 ALT. 1 SCC)

The first element of the offense must be an injury to a person. A simple bodily injury must be directly caused by the perpetrator. An criminal lawyer in St. Gallen, Zurich or Frauenfeld can clarify whether a simple bodily injury has been inflicted. Moreover, the offender does not have to help the victim: he must solely neglect to provide the help that is required and physically possible according to the circumstances at hand. Providing help is not necessary if the injured person refuses help, if the injured person can help themselves or if they have already been assisted. Whether the help provided was successful is irrelevant. Providing help is also required if it is only a matter of sparing an injured or dying person pain. The perpetrator is also expected to help the victim. The interests of the perpetrator must be weighed against the risks to the victim, here. As a rule, it is not reasonable to demand a person to incur risk to their own life and considerable risks to their health.

If these conditions are met, the objective elements of the offense have been fulfilled. If the subjective elements of the offense (intent), the unlawfulness and guilt are also present, the perpetrator is considered guilty of failing to provide emergency assistance. Get advice on the qualification of the subjective elements of the offense, unlawfulness or guilt from one of our lawyers in criminal law in Switzerland.

DUTY OF EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE TO A PERSON IN IMMEDIATE DANGER OF DEATH (ART. 128 PAR. 1 ALT. 2 SCC)

The basic idea of this variant is to establish the duty to maintain a minimum level of interpersonal solidarity. For this to apply, there must be an immediate danger to life. This is for example, a situation in which without the intervention of a third party, the death of an injured person will occur. Whether such a situation existed in actuality can be clarified by our team of lawyers for criminal law in St. Gallen, Zurich or Frauenfeld. In addition, the perpetrator does not have to have helped the victim - cf. above to Alt.1. It must have been reasonable for the perpetrator to help the victim. To determine whether this was the case, the interests are also weighed against one another.

If these conditions are met, the objective elements of the offense must be affirmed. If the offender has also acted intentionally, unlawfully and culpably in this case, the perpetrator is guilty of failing to provide emergency assistance. Attorneys at law in Switzerland can explain whether and how these further conditions were met.