THE CRIMINAL LIABILITY OF MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS
Keywords:
criminal liability, medical professionals, professional negligence, death, personal injuryAbstract
Human life and health are the highest values in any legal and democratic state, which is why legal
guarantees for their protection are regulated in all legal systems. The most effective of these guarantees is criminal
legal responsibility, which is expressed in the elevation of those socially dangerous acts that threaten or damage
human life or health to crimes. These criminal acts can be committed by all criminally liable natural persons,
including medical specialists during or on the occasion of exercising the medical profession. From the jurisprudence
of the Bulgarian courts, it is established that most often the criminal liability of doctors and other medical specialists
is committed for two types of crimes, namely: criminal professional negligence causing death
e under Art. 123 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Bulgaria and criminal professional negligence causing
personal injury under Art. 134 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Bulgaria. The object of the specified crimes
are public relations that ensure the inviolability of human life and the inviolability of human health and the physical
integrity of the person, i.e. human life and health. The Bulgarian criminal law also regulates other types of crimes
that are related to the criminal liability of medical specialists, but they affect other public relations. Such are, for
example: the crime under Art. 126, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code - the so-called "criminal abortion", the abuse
under Art. 141, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code, passive and active bribery under Art. 301, paragraph 1 and art.
304 of the Criminal Code, exercising a profession or trade without the corresponding legal capacity under art. 324,
paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code and other crimes. This report will present an analysis of the main characteristics of
the crimes of criminal professional negligence causing death and criminal professional negligence causing personal
injury, for the commission of which the criminal liability of medical professionals most often arises. The main,
qualified and privileged compositions of the specified types of crimes, their features and specifics were examined.
The purpose of the report is to acquaint not only the public, but also medical specialists, with the elements of the
targeted crimes, which will contribute to increasing their legal culture and conforming their behavior to criminal law
norms. In this sense, the good awareness of legal entities about the current criminal legislation is an important
prerequisite for limiting crime in any country.
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