Commentary on Article 282. Violation of Safety Rules in the Performance of Space Activities of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan
1. Violation of safety rules in the performance of space activities, if this negligently results in the infliction of grievous bodily harm or bodily harm of medium severity to a person, —
shall be punishable by a fine in an amount of up to three thousand monthly calculation indices, or corrective labour in the same amount, or community service for a period of up to eight hundred hours, or restriction of liberty for a period of up to three years, or imprisonment for the same period, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of up to three years or without such deprivation.
2. The same act, which negligently results in the death of a person or other grave consequences, —
shall be punishable by imprisonment for a period of up to six years, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of up to three years or without such deprivation.
3. An act provided for in Part One of this Article, which negligently results in the death of two or more persons, —
shall be punishable by imprisonment for a period of three to eight years, with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of up to three years or without such deprivation.
The public danger of the crime lies in the fact that violations of safety rules in the performance of space activities, non-compliance with the rules and requirements governing the launch of space objects and spacecraft and the test launches of rockets from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, environmental requirements, requirements in the field of technical regulation and ensuring the sanitary and epidemiological well-being of the population, as well as violations of international norms and standards, create a threat of harm to the health of individuals, damage to the environment, property of individuals and legal entities and the State, and pollution of outer space arising as a result of space activities.
The principle governing the performance of space activities is the observance of national interests and the ensuring of the defence and national security of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the performance of space activities.
The provision under consideration is aimed at ensuring public safety in the performance of space activities; therefore, the object of the crime is public safety.
The additional objects are health and, in certain cases, human life, environmental safety, and property relations.
Outer space is the space extending beyond the airspace at an altitude of more than one hundred kilometres above sea level.
Pursuant to Article 119-1 of the Land Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, land designated for the needs of space activities includes land allocated for the location and operation of ground-based space infrastructure facilities, as well as their protection zones.
In order to ensure the safety of the population, as well as the preservation and safe operation of ground-based space infrastructure facilities, protection zones with special land-use conditions are established, with the exception of the areas where detachable parts of launch vehicles fall, within which those types of activities that are incompatible with the purposes of establishing such zones are restricted or prohibited.
Space activities are activities aimed at exploring and using outer space to achieve scientific, economic, environmental, defence, informational and commercial objectives.
The disposition of the Article under consideration is of a blanket nature; therefore, in order to determine whether a violation of safety rules in the performance of space activities has taken place, it is necessary to refer to the relevant regulatory legal acts.
The legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of space activities is based on the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan and consists of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 6 January 2012, “On Space Activities”, and other regulatory legal acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan; as well as the Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 13 December 2016, “On Determining the National Operators of Space Systems, as well as Their Tasks and Functions, and on Declaring Invalid the Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 721 dated 31 May 2012, ‘On Determining the National Operators of Space Systems, as well as Their Tasks and Functions’”.
If an international treaty ratified by the Republic of Kazakhstan establishes different rules, the rules of the international treaty shall apply.
The flight activities of cosmonauts are governed by onboard documentation (instructions), flight rules, design and operational documents of the lead organisation responsible for the development of the manned spacecraft, instructions of the Mission Control Centre, and international agreements.
The objective aspect of this crime is characterised by an act or omission expressed in the violation of safety rules in the performance of space activities, if this negligently results in the infliction of grievous bodily harm or bodily harm of medium severity to a person.
Such violations include:
implementation of a project in the field of space activities for which there is no positive conclusion of the sectoral expert examination in the field of space activities;
launching a space object from the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as beyond its borders where such launch is carried out by a Kazakhstani participant in space activities, without a positive decision of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the launch of the space object;
evading state registration of a space object;
creating a direct threat to the life and health of people;
using space technology and (or) celestial bodies to exert a negative impact on the environment;
violating international norms and standards concerning the pollution of outer space;
violating the rules for the creation and operation (use) of space systems within the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as in outer space.
By its legal structure, the corpus delicti is material. A violation of safety rules in the performance of space activities shall be considered completed from the moment grievous bodily harm or bodily harm of medium severity is inflicted on a person. An obligatory element is the causal link between the relevant violations of the rules and the consequences that occur.
The elements of socially dangerous consequences (the infliction of grievous bodily harm or bodily harm of medium severity to a person, the death of a person or other grave consequences, the death of two or more persons) are examined in the commentary to Article 277 of the Criminal Code.
The subjective aspect is characterised by a negligent (reckless or careless) attitude towards the harm caused to people's health. A person either foresees the possibility of such consequences arising from their act but, without sufficient grounds, recklessly expects to prevent these consequences, or does not foresee the possibility of such consequences arising from their act, although, with due attention and foresight, they should and could have foreseen these consequences.
At the same time, the subject must have been familiarised with the relevant rules, the violation of which is imputed to them as culpable conduct.
If, however, the perpetrator acted intentionally, wishing or knowingly allowing the consequences to occur, their actions shall be classified under a more serious offence, for example, an offence against the person.
The subject of this crime may be persons who have reached the age of sixteen and are obliged to comply with or ensure compliance with the aforementioned rules.
Participants in space activities are individuals and (or) legal entities carrying out space activities within the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as in outer space.
A grave consequence in the form of negligently causing the death of a person or other grave consequences is provided for as an aggravating element (Part 2 of Article 279 of the Criminal Code).
A violation of safety rules in the performance of space activities that negligently results in the death of two or more persons constitutes an especially aggravated offence (Part 3).
The elements of socially dangerous consequences (the death of a person or other grave consequences, the death of two or more persons) are examined in the commentary to Article 277 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
An act provided for in Part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code belongs to the category of minor offences.
The acts provided for in Parts 2 and 3 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code belong to the category of offences of medium gravity.
Commentary of 2021 to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan by Isidor Shamilovich Borchashvili, Honoured Figure of Kazakhstan, Doctor of Law, Professor, Academician of the Kazakhstan National Academy of Natural Sciences, Member of the Scientific Advisory Councils under the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Member of the Working Group on Reform of the Law Enforcement System under the Security Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Honoured Employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
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