Duty to rescue
Many civil law systems, which are common in Continental Europe, Latin America and much of Africa, impose a far more extensive duty to rescue.
For example, after a traffic accident which causes injury, other drivers and passers-by must help or summon emergency assistance if they can do so without endangering themselves, without regard to personal reasons not to help (e.g. having an urgent appointment)[citation needed].
With the help of security camera footage, the customers who did not act were identified and fined several thousand euros for failing to provide assistance.
As of 2012[update], there were such laws in several countries, including[1] Albania, Andorra,[26] Argentina,[27] Austria,[28] Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia,[29] Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,[30] Finland, France,[31] Germany,[32] Greece,[33] Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands,[34] Norway,[35] Poland,[36] Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia,[37] Spain, Switzerland and Tunisia.
Some countries that do not implement a duty to rescue have laws protecting people who provide assistance from being sued for inadvertently causing harm.
[39] In Brazil, the Article 135 ("Omission of rescue") of the Brazilian Penal Code states that: One who fails to provide medical assistance to an abandoned child (or lost) or invalid person (or harmed) who is in peril and no harm is present to himself (or herself), or does not call the public authority for help will be either imprisoned for a period ranging from one to six months or fined.
[41] Under the Danish penal code, all persons must provide aid to the best of their ability to any person who appears to be lifeless or in mortal danger (§ 253), must alert authorities or take similar steps to prevent impending disasters that could cause loss of life (§ 185), must comply with all reasonable requests of assistance by a public authority when a person's life, health or well-being is at stake (§ 142), and must, if they learn of a planned crime against the state, human life or well-being, or significant public goods, do everything in their power to prevent or mitigate the crime, including but not limited to reporting it to authorities (§ 141), in all cases provided that acting would not incur particular danger or personal sacrifice.
[44] Anyone who fails to render assistance to a person in danger will be found liable before French Courts (civil and criminal liability).
[45] The photographers at the scene of the fatal car collision of Diana, Princess of Wales, were investigated for violation of the French law of "non-assistance à personne en danger" (failing to provide assistance to a person in danger), which can be punished by up to five years of imprisonment and a fine of up to €75,000.
In Germany, knowledge of basic emergency measures and certified attendance of a first aid and CPR course are prerequisites for being granted a driving license.
According to Article 450 of Dutch criminal law: "He who, being a witness to the instantaneous mortal danger of another, fails to provide or procure such help which he can provide or procure without reasonably needing to fear danger to himself or others, will, if the death of the person in need of help occurs, be punished with imprisonment of up to three months or a second category fine.
"[34] In Norway, Section 287 of the Penal Code[50] states that "A penalty of a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months shall be applied to any person who fails to provide assistance to the best of his/her ability to a person at obvious risk of losing his/her life or suffering considerable harm to his/her body or health".
In Poland, Article 162 of the criminal code states that whoever does not render aid to a person in a situation posing an imminent danger of death or serious injury to health, and is able to do so without exposing himself or another person to a danger of loss of life or serious injury to health, shall be subject to the penalty of imprisonment for up to 3 years.
If the person dies of injuries due to no aid having been provided by the bystander, a sentence up to 8 years in prison can be imposed.
[53] In Tunisia, it is regulated by Article 143 of the Tunisian Criminal Code of 1913, modified by the ordinance dated July 9, 1942, relating to the lack of 'legal' assistance (Duty of Rescue).
According to the mentioned article, the deliberate failure to assist a person in a dangerous situation (such as injury, fire, or a doctor refusing to provide care) is considered a criminal offense and is punishable by law.
One sort of justification is general and applies regardless of role-related relationships (doctor to patient; firefighter to citizen, etc.).
They explain why philosopher Peter Singer suggests that if one saw a child drowning and could intervene to save him, they should do so, if the cost is moderate to themselves.
[58] These are some of the ethical justifications for a duty to rescue, and they may hold true for both regular citizens and skilled professionals even in the absence of legal requirements to render aid.
The 1981 case Warren v. District of Columbia held that police do not have a legal mandate to protect specific individuals, staying that "the duty to provide public services is owed to the public at large, and, absent a special relationship between the police and an individual, no specific legal duty exists".
Some states, including Minnesota, Vermont, and Rhode Island, legislate that a person who does not intervene safely or call emergency services if they know that someone is in serious danger commits a misdemeanor offence.
