Medical Confidentiality and Crime

Sabine Michalowski, University of Essex, UK

Contents: Introduction. Ethical Considerations: Main schools of medical ethics; Autonomy, privacy and confidentiality; Conflicts of interests in the context of criminal prosecution and crime prevention; Conclusion. European Law: Protection of Medical Confidentiality: European convention on human rights; European convention on human rights and biomedicine; Data protection directive 95/46/EC; European charter of fundamental rights. Disclosure in the Context of Crime Prevention and Criminal Prosecution: Criminal prosecution; Conflicting defence rights; Crime prevention; Summary. French Law: Protection of Medical Confidentiality: Medical confidentiality as a fundamental right; Protection under criminal law; Protection under private law; Professional obligation; Summary. Disclosure in the Context of Crime Prevention and Criminal Prosecution: General and absolute obligation of medical confidentiality; Obligation to give testimony; Defence rights of the physician; Effects of the patient's consent; Obligation to disclose certain information; Admissibility of the physician's testimony; Search for and seizure of medical records; Summary and conclusion. German Law: Protection of Medical Confidentiality: Medical confidentiality as a fundamental right; Protection under criminal law; Protection under contract and tort law; Professional obligation; Summary. Disclosure in the Context of Crime Prevention and Criminal Prosecution: A physician's testimony in criminal court; Crime prevention; Confidential material exempt from search and seizure; Summary and conclusion. English Law: Protection of Medical Confidentiality: Medical confidentiality as a fundamental right; Contractual obligation; Equitable duty; Statutory obligations and criminal offences; Professional obligation; Summary. Disclosure in the Context of Crime Prevention and Criminal Prosecution: State access to confidential medical information; Voluntary disclosure by the physician; Summary and conclusion. American Law: Protection of Medical Confidentiality: Constitutional privacy protection; Statutory obligations; Private law actions for breach of medical confidentiality; Professional obligation; Summary. Disclosure in the Context of Crime Prevention and Criminal Prosecution: Federal law; State law; Summary and conclusion. Comparative Conclusions: Protection of Medical Confidentiality: Constitutional protection; Scope and means of protection; Differences between common law and civil law approaches. Disclosure in the Context of Crime Prevention and Criminal Prosecution: Medical privilege in criminal courts; Defence rights; Crime prevention. Concluding Remarks; Bibliography; Index.