Comparison between the Crimes of Harboring a Criminal and Failure to Denounce a Criminal under the 2015 Criminal Code
Article 18. Harboring a Criminal
-
Any person who, without prior promise, but after knowing that a crime has been committed, harbors the offender, conceals traces or exhibits of the crime, or engages in other acts obstructing the detection, investigation, or handling of the offender, shall bear criminal liability for the offense of harboring a criminal in the cases prescribed by this Code.
-
A person harboring a criminal who is a grandparent, parent, child, grandchild, sibling, spouse of the offender shall not bear criminal liability under Clause 1 of this Article, except where the harboring relates to crimes infringing upon national security or other particularly serious crimes as provided in Article 389 of this Code.
Article 19. Failure to Denounce a Criminal
-
Any person who clearly knows that a crime is being prepared, is being committed, or has been committed but fails to denounce it shall bear criminal liability for the offense of failure to denounce a criminal as prescribed in Article 390 of this Code.
-
A person who fails to denounce a criminal and is a grandparent, parent, child, grandchild, sibling, spouse of the offender shall not bear criminal liability under Clause 1 of this Article, except where the failure to denounce relates to crimes prescribed in Chapter XIII of this Code or other crimes classified as particularly serious crimes.
-
A defense counsel who fails to denounce a criminal shall not bear criminal liability under Clause 1 of this Article, except where the failure to denounce relates to crimes prescribed in Chapter XIII of this Code or other crimes classified as particularly serious crimes, which are being prepared, committed, or have been committed by the very person he/she is defending, and which the defense counsel is clearly aware of during the course of defense.
Legal basis:
-
Article 18 of the 2015 Criminal Code.
-
Clause 5, Article 1 of the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Criminal Code 2017.
