02-1.Doctors and the Law society of Scotland .pdf

Medical Parastiology

1. Chapter 2, Part 1
Doctors and the Law
Forensic Medicine
JinBo
Dep. of Forensic Med., NSMC
201-2020-2

2. general legal system
character of a doctor in
legal procedure
structure of a
medical report
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3. Introduction
Most countries have established rules and
codes for the mutual benefit of the
population.
There are fundamental rules founded in
every country and variations from each
other: homicide, abortion…
Doctors are bound by general laws and
additional laws specific to the practice of
medicine.
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4. Doctor law Tort law
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5. Genealogy:
⚫Civil law system, continental law system: Roman
law, codification, no creation;
⚫Anglo-americanlawsystem: common law of
England, case law, judge;
⚫Islamic law system: the Quran;
⚫Chineselaw system: feudalethics, Emperor, no
religion…
⚫Indian law system: religion, royalty and caste
system…
The legal system
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6. 6
○Did you know anything about
Caste System?

7. The legal system
The criminal system
⚫Criminal law dealswith disputes between the
state and the individual.
⚫Criminal trials involve offences ‘against public
interest’ --The state acts as the voice or the
agent of the people.
⚫Presumption of innocence.
⚫Penalties: monetary charges (fines), loss of
liberty (imprisonment), corporal or capital
punishment.
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8. Caning Hanging, Saddam Hussein
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9. Civil courts
⚫Resolve disputes between individuals caused
by some private wrong or disadvantage, not
concern of the state.
e.g. alleged negligence, contractual failure, debt,
light fighting, etc.
⚫A mechanism for the fairresolution of disputes
in a structured way.
⚫Penalty: generally financial compensation is
taken to restore the position of the successful
claimant to that which he had before the event.
The legal system
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10. Defendant
⚫the person against whom the action is being
taken.
Accuser
⚫criminal trials: state
⚫civil trials: plaintiff
Both types of proceeding follow a single
incident
⚫a road traffic accident: traffic offences &
caused injuries
The legal system
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11. Courts of law
Courts of law are of two types
⚫The civil court
⚫The criminal court
Criminal courts
Supreme court
Sessions court
High court
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12. Sessions court
Located in a city, a district, a county
⚫e.g. Intermediate People's Court, District People’s Court
Try cases which have been committed to it by a
plaintiff, a magistrate or the prosecution.
Pass any sentence authorized by law, but a
sentence of death passed by it must be
confirmed by the Supreme (High) court.
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13. High court
Located in each province (state)
Highest tribunal for any province (state)
Try any offenses and pass any sentence
authorized by law.
High Court, London
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14. Supreme court
Highest judicial power
Highest power of supervision
⚫e.g. procedure for review of death
sentences.
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15. Magistrate
Chief Judicial Magistrate
First Class Judicial Magistrate
Second Class Judicial Magistrate
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16. Inquest
An inquiry or investigation into the cause of
death:
⚫suicide, murder, killing by an animal or
machinery, accidents and suspicious (e.g.
sudden, unnatural, unexplained deaths).
Medical or Forensic medical expert
⚫scene investigation, autopsy, lab examination
etc.
Types
⚫Police inquest
⚫Magistrate inquest
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17. Police inquest
The officer in charge of a police station
conducts the inquest.
Performer: forensic medical expert in police
station (investigation officer)
⚫Coroner system
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18. Magistrate inquest
Conducted by a District Magistrate,
sub-divisional Magistrate.
Cases in suspiciousof:
⚫Death in prison
⚫Death in police custody, while under
police investigation
⚫Death due to police violence (e.g. torture,
firing, electric shock, abusing)
Performer: independentforensic
medical expert.
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19. 19Forensic Science Center of West China Sichuan

20. 20
○Who will answer and perform for those
inquests in your county?

21. Summons OR Subpoena
Legal documents compelling the attendanceof a
witness in the Court of law, on the particular
day, time, and place, for the purpose of giving
evidence.
A summons must be obeyed and signed.
Can be excused from attending the court with a
valid and urgent reason.
But if it finds that witness neglected to attend
the court without any justification, court may
fine him.
Criminal court has priority over civil court.
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22. 22

23. Conduct money
The fee offered or paid to the witness in
the civil case, at the time of serving the
summons to meet the expenses for
attending the court.
In criminal case no feeis paid, then also
witness has to attend the court.
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24. Witnesses of 3 types:
1.Common witness : gives evidence about the
facts observed or perceived by one. The principle
is “first hand knowledge rule” which helps to
establishthe exact circumstance of the case for
the court.
2.Professional witness: provides factual medical
evidencee.g. to confirm a broken leg or present
laceration and report on the treatment. No
comment or opinion.
3.Expert witness: skilledone e.g. doctor, firearm
expert, fingerprint expert, handwriting expert.
When the doctors are called for testification?
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a medical practitioner who has treated a patient
an expert to give his opinion on matter of science
who has saw something happen

25. 25
○How does the professional witness or expert
witness system work in your country?

26. Doctor in court (general rules)
Statement
⚫Report / document
Request or order to attend court
⚫Summoned
Attendance at court
⚫Notes, X-rays, reports & on time
Giving evidence
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27. Giving evidence
The evidence of the witness is given as:
1.Oath: “ I do swear in the name of God, that what I
shall state shall be the truth, and nothing but the
truth.”
Witness is liable for penalties of perjury(i.e.
giving willful false evidence) after oath.
2.Direct-examination= Question by the lawyer for the
side which has summoned the witness. Confirm
the truth of his statement.
3.Cross-examination= Question by the lawyer for the
opposite party.Test the previous facts & opinions.
4.Re-examination= By original lawyer, to clarify
anything raised in C-E, correct any mistakes, add
details, but nonew topics.
5.Judgemay ask questions at any time but mostly
until the end of each sections. 27

28. Doctor in court (general rules)
Statement
⚫Report / document
Request or order to attend court
⚫Summoned
Attendance at court
⚫Notes, X-rays, reports & on time
Giving evidence
Doctor for the defence
⚫Do not stray outside own area of expertise
Medical reports and statements
⚫No essential difference between them produced for legal
purposes: the police, the prosecution, the lawyers acting
for the defence, an insurance company, etc.
⚫Whether training, skilled, experience & Confidentiality.
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29. Structure of a report
Details of the patient: name, date of birth and address
Doctor’s information: address and qualification
Date and place(s): of report and any examination(s)
Present person(s): during examination(s)
Who & why: request the report & Special instructions
Circumstances in brief: about case, patient, dead…
Consent & signature of the patient
Details of the physical examination and treatment
No opinion given
The basis of most reports lies in the original
notesmade at the time of an examination.
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30. Structure of a report
A more senior doctor or an expert in a
particular field may be asked to express
opinionsabout aspects of the case and
those opinions will follow the factual part
of the report.
May be required in court:not include every
single aspect of a medical history,but the
relevant, objective (true), accuratefacts.
Beclearly, concisely and completely that
an intelligent person even without medical
training can understand it.
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31. The medical evidence doesn't itself establish
the guilt or innocence of the accused.
Doctors should resistany attempt to change or
delete any parts of their report by lawyers who
may feel those parts are detrimental to their
case; any requests to rewrite and resubmit a
report with alterations for these reasons should
be refused.
A doctor is a witness to and for the court who
should give the evidence without fear or favour
because it is for the court to decide upon the
facts and not the witness.
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32. Form of
a discharge abstract
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