Mental Disorder as a Sign of Serious Harm to Health in Criminal Legislation

The paper analyzes the term “mental disorder” as a criterion of criminally punishable harm to health, which determines the degree of social danger of an act. The discussion of this criterion, its meaning and content is a pressing theoretical and practical problem, since its epistemological aspect requires reference to various fields of knowledge. The work emphasizes the relevance of an interdisciplinary approach that combines legal and medical knowledge, which is necessary for correct law enforcement practice. The paper examines historical changes in terminology in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, such as the replacement of the concept of “mental illness” with “mental disorder”, “bodily injury” with “harm to health”, and their impact on the classification of crimes against health. The authors justify the importance of considering medical classifications and harmonizing them with legal realities to ensure objectivity and uniformity in the classification of serious harm to health. Based on a comparison of the medical, legal and scientific meanings of physical and mental trauma, harm to health, and harm from mental damage, the paper proposes practical solutions for defining the category of mental disorders that should be assessed as causing material, physical, and moral (mental) harm. A medical-legal model of mental disorder as a criterion for serious harm to health is presented. The paper aims at scientists, lawyers and medical experts, specialists involved in the enforcement of criminal law.