Intro to LegMed.pptx

Introduction to Legal Medicine Report Chapter 1

1. CHAPTER I Legal Medicine

2. General Consideration Legal Medicine Is a branch of medicine which deals with application of medical knowledge to the purposes of law and in the administration of justice. Forensic Medicine Is the branch of medicine dealing with t he application of medical knowledge to establish facts in civil or criminal legal cases, such as an investigation into t he cause and time of a suspicious death. Also known as forensic pathology.

3. General Consideration Medical Jurisprudence Is a knowledge of law in relation to the practice of medicine.

4. General Consideration Law Is a rule of conduct, just, obligatory, laid by legitimate power for common observance and benefit. Forensics It denotes anything belonging to the court of law or used in court or legal proceedings or something fitted for legal or public argumentations.

5. General Consideration Medicine Is a science and art dealing with prevention, cure and alleviation o f disease. It is that part of science and art of restoring and preserving health. Legal Is that which pertains to law, arising out of, b y virtue of or included in law. It also refers to anything conformable to the letters or rules o f l aw as it is administered by t he court.

6. General Consideration Jurisprudence It is a practical science which investigates the nature, origin, development and functions of law. Civil Law Is a mass of precepts that determines and regulates the relation of assistance, authority, and obedience between members of a family and those which exist among members of a society for the protection of private interest

7. General Consideration Criminal Law Is that branch or division of law which defines crimes, treats of their nature and provides for their punishment. Remedial Law Is that branch or division of l aw which deals with the rules concerning pleadings, practices and procedures in all courts of the Philippines.

8. General Consideration Special Law Dangerous Drug Act ( R.A. 6425, a s amended) Youth and Child Welfare Code ( P.D. 603) Insurance Law ( Act No. 2 427 as amended) Code o f Sanitation (P.D. 856) Evidence Is the means, sanctioned by the Rules of Court, of ascertaining in a judicial proceeding the truth respecting a matter of f act (Sec. 1, Rule 128, Rules of Court).

9. General Consideration Medical Witness Are physicians, nurses, surgeons or other licensed practitioners whose skills and experience qualify them to testify on a particular medical area. Ordinary Witness Is someone who personally saw or heard something about the crime. Expert Witness Is someone who has special expertise about an element of the crime.

10. The Scope of Legal Medicine It is the application of medical and paramedical sciences as demanded by law and administration of justice. The Nature of the Study of Legal Medicine A knowledge of legal medicine means the ability to acquire facts, the power to arrange those facts in their logical order, and to draw a conclusion from the facts which m ay be useful in the administration of justice.

11. The Nature of the Study of Legal Medicine A side from being a preceptor of fact, he must possess the power to impart t o others verbally or in writing all those he has observed. A physician who specializes or is involved primarily with medicolegal duties is known as medical jurist, (medical examiner, medicolegal officer, medico-legal expert). Health officers, medical officers of Jaw enforcement agencies and members of the medical staff of accredited hospital are authorized by law to perform autopsies ( Sec. 95, P.D. 8 56, Code of Sanitation).

12. Legal medicine | Forensic medicine | Medical Jurisprudence Legal Medicine : primarily the application of medicine to legal eases. Forensic Medicine : medicine concerns with the application of medical science to elucidate legal problems. Medical Jurisprudence : knowledge of law in relation to the practice of medicine.

13. Ordinary Physician | Medical Jurist An ordinary physician sees an injury or disease on the point of view of treatment, while a medico-jurist sees injury or disease on the point of view of cause. The purpose of an ordinary physician examining a patient is to arrive at a definite diagnosis so that appropriate treatment can be instituted, while the purpose of the medical jurist in examining a patient i s to include those bodily lesions in his report and testify before the court or before an investigative body; thus giving justice to whom it is due.

14. Ordinary Physician | Medical Jurist Minor or trivial injuries are usually ignored by an ordinary clinician inasmuch as they do not require usual treatment. Superficial abrasions, small contusion and other minor injuries will heal without medication. However, a medical jurist must record all bodily injuries even if they are small or minor because these injuries may be proofs to qualify the crime or to justify the act.

15. Direct Evidence | Circumstantial Evidence Direct Evidence : That which proves the fact in dispute without the aid of any inference or presumption. The evidence presented corresponds to the precise or actual point at issue. Circumstantial Evidence : The proof of fact or facts from which, taken either singly or collectively, the existence of a particular fact in dispute may be inferred as a necessary or probable consequence.

16. Ordinary Witness | Expert Witness Ordinary witness: A physician who testifies in court on matters perceived from his patient in the course of physician-patient relationship. (Sec. 20, Rule 130, Rules of Court) Exception: Privilege of Communication between physician and patient. (Sec. 24 c, Rule 130) Expert witness: A physician on account of his training and experience can give his opinion on a set of medical facts. He can deduce or infer something, determine the cause of death, or render opinion pertinent to the issue and medical nature. (Sec. 48-49, Rule 130)

17. Forms of Law Written or Statutory Law (Lex Scripta) composed of laws which are produced by the country's legislations and which are defined, codified and incorporated by the l aw-making body e.g. Laws of the PH Unwritten or Common Law (Lex non Scripta) composed of the unwritten laws based on immemorial customs and usages. It is sometimes referred to as case l aw, common l aw, jurisprudence or customary law e.g. Laws of England

18. Principle of Stare Decisis A principle that, when the court has once l aid down a principle of l aw or interpretation as applied to a certain state of facts, it will adhere to and apply to all future cases where the facts are substantially the same.

19. Application of Legal Medicine to Civil Law In civil law, knowledge of legal medicine may be useful on the following: The determination and termination of civil personality (Art. 40 and 41), The limitation or restriction of a natural person's capacity to act (Art. 23 and 39); The marriage and legal separation (Book I, Title III & IV); The paternity and filiation (Book I, Title VIII); and The testamentary capacity of a person making a will (Book III, Title IV).

20. Application of Legal Medicine to Criminal Law Legal medicine is applicable i n the following provisions of the penal code: Circumstances affecting criminal liability (Title I); Crimes against person (Title VIII), and Crimes against chastity (Title XI)

21. Application of Legal Medicine to Remedial Law Legal Medicine may be applied in the following provisions of the Rules of Court: Physical and mental examination of a person (Rule 28); Proceedings for hospitalization of an insane person (Rule 101); and Rules on evidences (Part IV)

22. Hearsay Information As a rule, these are not admissible in court. Hearsay evidences are those not proceeding from the personal knowledge of the witness but from mere repetition of what he has heard others say. It is a "second hand" evidence which rest mainly on the veracity and competence of its source.

23. Privileged Communication Sec 21(c), ROC - Privileged Communication A person authorized to practice medicine, surgery or obstetrics cannot in a civil case, without the consent of the patient, be examined as to any information which he may have acquired in attending such patient in a professional capacity, which information was necessary to enable him to act in that capacity, and which would blacken the character of the patient

24. Dying Declaration One of the exceptions to the non-admissibility of hearsay evidence. The declaration of a dying person under the consciousness of his impending death as regards circumstance regarding his impending death i s admissible i n spite of the fact that it is a hearsay, it is made so because of necessity and it is trustworthy. Sec 31, Rule 130, ROC - Dying Declaration

25. Dying Declaration One of the exceptions to the non-admissibility of hearsay evidence. The declaration of a dying person under the consciousness of his impending death as regards circumstance regarding his impending death i s admissible i n spite of the fact that it is a hearsay, it is made so because of necessity and it is trustworthy. Sec 31, Rule 130, ROC - Dying Declaration

26. How Evidence are Preserved: Photographs, audio and/or video tape, micro-film, photostat, xerox, voice tracing, etc. Sketching Description Manikin Method Preservation in the Mind of the Witness Special Methods

27. Preponderance of Evidence Sec 1, Rule 133, ROC The following factors must be considered which party's evidence preponderate: All the facts and circumstances of the case. The witnesses' manner of testifying, their intelligence, their means and opportunities of knowing the facts to which they are testifying. The nature of the facts to which the witnesses testify. The probability and improbability of the witnesses' testimony. The interest or want of interest of the witnesses. Credibility of the witness so far as the same may legitimately appear upon the trial. The number of witnesses presented, although preponderance is not necessarily with the greatest number

28. Proof Beyond Reasonable Doubt Sec 2, Rule 133, ROC Proof beyond reasonable doubt does not mean such a degree of proof as, excluding possibility of error, produces absolute certainty. Moral certainty only is required, or that degree of proof which produces conviction in an unprejudiced mind. It is presumed that a person is innocent of a crime until the contrary is proven beyond reasonable doubt.

29. Branches of Law Civil Law Criminal Law Remedial Law Special Law

30. Basic Principles of Law Ignorance of the l aw excuses no one from compliance therewith or "ignorantia legis nominem excusat" (Art 3, Civil Code) Laws shall have no retroactive effect, unless the contrary i s provided (Art. 4, Civil Code) Rights may be waived, unless the waiver i s contrary to l aw, public order, public policy, morals or good customs, or prejudicial to a third person with a right recognized by l aw (Art. 6, Civil Code) Customs which are contrary to l aw, public order or public policy shall not be countenanced (Art. 11, Civil Code). A custom must be proved as a fact according to the rules of evidence (Sec. 12, Civil Code) Laws are repealed only by subsequent ones, and their violation or non-observance shall not be excused by disuse, custom or practice to the contrary.

31. Persons Authorized to Perform Autopsies Health officers Medical officers of law enforcement agencies Members of the medical staff of accredited hospitals

32. When Autopsies Shall Be Performed Whenever required by special laws; Upon order of a competent court, a mayor and a provincial or city fiscal; Upon written request of police authorities, Whenever the Solicitor General, provincial or city fiscal deem it necessary to disinter and take possession of the remains for examination to determine the cause of death; Whenever the nearest kin shall request in writing the authorities concerned to ascertain the cause of death.

33. Types of Medical Evidence Autoptic or Real Evidence Testimonial Evidence Experimental Evidence Documentary Evidence Physical Evidence

34. Kinds of Evidence Necessary for Conviction Direct Evidence Circumstantial Evidence