The historical development of criminal omission: from past to present

To deeply understand the essence of crimes committed by omission from the objective perspective in criminal law theory, it is essential to comprehensively study the developmental trends of such acts in the criminal-legal history of Azerbaijan. The present research primarily aims to investigate how criminal omissions have been described and classified across various legal-historical stages. The main objective of this article is to examine how omission has been regarded as socially dangerous conduct throughout the key periods of Azerbaijan’s legal history starting from ancient customary law norms and religious-legal traditions, continuing through the codified acts of the imperial, Soviet, and post-independence periods. Within this context, particular attention will be given to the characteristics of legal norms that either criminalized omissions or did not regulate such acts, alongside an analysis of the features of omissions within different socio-political formations. This study will be conducted with reference to primary legal sources and historical documents, including ancient customary law norms, Sharia-based rules, the legislation of the Russian Empire, Soviet criminal laws, and contemporary criminal legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The comparative and historical-legal analysis presented herein aims to explore the historical development of criminal omissions and contribute to a deeper theoretical and practical understanding of liability based on omission. Keywords: criminal-legal history, publicly dangerous act, objective aspect, passive behavior, omissive conduct, criminal omission, criminalisation, decriminalisation.