Abandonment - Ikizai

A crime that endangers the life or body of a person who needs assistance due to old age, infancy, physical disability, or illness (including injury, intoxication, or the influence of drugs, etc.) while left unattended. The act of moving a person from a safe place to a dangerous place (or from a dangerous place to a more dangerous place) by anyone other than a person responsible for their care is punishable (with imprisonment of up to one year) as a simple abandonment crime (Article 217 of the Penal Code). On the other hand, in the case of a person with protective responsibility, not only the act of moving a person to a dangerous place, but also the act of abandoning a person or not providing the protection necessary for survival, such as not giving them enough food, is punishable (with imprisonment of between three months and five years) as a simple abandonment crime (Article 218 of the Penal Code). The term "person responsible for care" includes not only those who are responsible under law or contract, such as parents or babysitters for young children, or facility staff for residents of nursing homes, but also those who are considered to have protective responsibility by law, such as those who inject stimulants to cause confusion. Those who commit simple abandonment or abandonment by a person responsible for their care, resulting in the death or injury of another person, are punished with a heavier sentence than those for injury, as the crime of abandonment resulting in death or injury (Article 219 of the Penal Code). Injury resulting in injury is punishable by imprisonment for up to 15 years (in the case of abandonment by a person responsible for their care, imprisonment for a period of three months to 15 years), and death resulting in a fixed term of imprisonment for a period of three years to 20 years. If the perpetrator was aware of or accepted the consequences of the death or injury, the crime of murder or injury as an intentional crime is established.

On the other hand, in the case of hit-and-run traffic accidents, there have been cases where the crime of abandonment of a person responsible for protection was established because the driver has a legal obligation to provide aid to the injured, but in the case of normal escape, this crime is not applied and the offender is solely punished for violating the duty to provide aid under the Road Traffic Act. With the revision of the Road Traffic Act in 2007, the penalty for the driver who caused the accident was raised to imprisonment of up to 10 years or a fine of up to 1 million yen (Road Traffic Act, Article 117, Paragraph 2).

[Masahiro Tamura January 21, 2021]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

老年、幼年、身体障害または病気（けが、泥酔、薬物等の影響を含む）のために扶助を必要とする者を、保護のない状態において、その者の生命・身体を危険にする犯罪。保護責任者以外は、安全な場所から危険な場所に（または危険な場所からより危険な場所に）移す行為が、いわゆる単純遺棄罪として、処罰（1年以下の懲役）の対象となる（刑法217条）。一方、保護責任を有する者の場合には、危険な場所に移す行為だけでなく、置き去りにする行為、十分な食事を与えないなど生存に必要な保護を与えない行為も、保護責任者遺棄罪として、処罰（3月以上5年以下の懲役）の対象となる（刑法218条）。保護責任者とは、幼い子供に対する親権者やベビーシッター、介護施設の入所者に対する施設職員など法令または契約に基づいて責任を有する者のほか、覚醒(かくせい)剤を注射して相手を錯乱状態にした者のように条理上保護責任があるとされる者も含まれる。単純遺棄罪または保護責任者遺棄罪を犯して人を死傷させた者は、遺棄等致死傷罪として、傷害の罪と比較して重い刑で処断される（刑法219条）。致傷は15年以下の懲役（保護責任者遺棄による場合は3月以上15年以下の懲役）、致死は3年以上20年以下の有期懲役となる。死傷の結果を認識、認容していれば、故意犯としての殺人罪、傷害罪が成立する。

　一方、交通事故のひき逃げに関しては、運転者が負傷者を救護する義務が法定されていることを理由に保護責任者遺棄罪の成立が認められた例もあるが、通常の逃走では、本罪を適用することなく、道路交通法の救護義務違反の罪でもっぱら処断されている。2007年（平成19）の道路交通法改正により、事故を起こした運転者の場合、同罪は10年以下の懲役または100万円以下の罰金に引き上げられている（道路交通法117条2項）。

［田村正博　2021年1月21日］

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