The criminal case on the accident. What possible punishment and where to go for help?

The criminal case on the accident - perhaps one of the most difficult types of legal practice. The driver who has violated the rules of the road and caused harm to the health of another person, and witnesses of the incident are often diverge in the testimony, and they do not always do it on purpose.

Blame can be a normal shock, which, however, very difficult to parse circumstances. The situation is complicated when it is clear that an accident may result in criminal liability. There has anyone got nervous!

Judicial practice in cases of accidents

Perhaps jurisprudence in cases of accidents with consequences of varying severity could not be so rich, if pedestrians and drivers to mutually respect each other. But sometimes you can not avoid hitting not out of malice, but for technical reasons.


The driver, who was responsible for a traffic accident, can expect a few types of liability:

Administrative: if the driver violated traffic rules, or if the vehicle had a fault which led to the accident. For this, you can lose the rights, pay a fine, or fall under administrative arrest for up to 15 days (in the cases provided for in Article 12.27 of the Administrative Code).

Civil: If damage (eg damaged car). In this case, the damage will have to repay.

Criminal: if the damage was caused to people (pedestrians, other drivers, passengers).

However, if the victim has suffered slight damage, then the driver has administrative responsibility. The severity of the injury is determined by an expert during the examination or special investigation.

Criminal liability when an accident occurs in the following cases (Article 264 of the Criminal Code):

Part 1: If the fault of the driver's person was seriously injured, the perpetrator shall be punished by restriction of freedom for up to 3 years or imprisonment for up to 6 months, or - imprisonment for up to 2 years, with deprivation of rights under 3 years. However, the rights can not be collected in this case.

Part 2: If the offender was intoxicated and negligently caused grave damage to human health, he shall be punished by imprisonment and the right to operate a vehicle for up to 3 years.

Part 3: If the victim died, the driver will be imprisonment for up to 5 years and the prohibition to operate a vehicle for up to 3 years.

Part 4: if the perpetrator was in a state of intoxication, which entailed by negligence the death of a person, he will get up to 7 years and deprivation of the rights to three years.

Part 5: if the accident resulted in the death of 2 or more persons, the driver can go to jail for up to 7 years and lose the right to operate a vehicle for up to 3 years.

Part 6: If the driver in this case was under the influence of alcohol, then he faces up to 9 years, with disqualification to three years.

In each case, the Court considers the evidence provided and determine the circumstances of the incident and to decide whether or not to satisfy the claim and what legal standard should apply. However, clarification of all circumstances of the case could drag on for a long time, so that there can be very useful assistance of an experienced attorney.

Help a criminal defense lawyer in an accident

The more experience the lawyer in criminal cases is on the accident, the better he will be able to protect your rights. However, even generalists much better than hope for your own luck. He knows the minimum that need and the accused and the victim in the first place: what you need to say, and that - no. Sometimes this is already enough to party a criminal case on the accident are not aggravated their situation.

Of course, we understand that in our country a legal culture is much less developed than in the West, where the man throws himself calls "his" lawyer in the most unimaginable situations. So we do not expect that, got in an accident, people immediately find in my notebook the number. However, a criminal lawyer accident may be involved in the process at any stage, whether it is:

    decision to open a criminal case at the very beginning of the investigation;
    peer reviews;
    investigations;
    hearing.

A hundred times wrong the driver who decides to defend himself. Before you give up a lawyer, say, did you know that, by law, a pedestrian generally can not be found guilty of an accident? But the guilty, in the end, there must exist. And how do you think, who they will be? Judicial practice in cases of accidents faced with such situations more than once, and without the help of an experienced lawyer who is rarely able to prove that a collision with a pedestrian could occur, for example due to a technical fault. Of course, in any case, a lawyer will be appointed to the accused, however, whether the culprit be sure that he is in any way interested public defender?

However, not only negligent driver may need legal assistance in a criminal case. The victim is also sometimes difficult to defend their rights. In addition, if you are not satisfied with the decision made by the court, the lawyer will make a statement of claim in the Court of Appeal to appeal, collect all the necessary documents, as well as provide assistance in the organization of various types of expertise.

Needless to say - criminal investigation of accidents are specific and can be very complex. To achieve an equitable solution can be very difficult, so it is important to time apply for legal aid.