HMPA: The amendment to the Criminal Code will hit doctors

OZZL publishes a position on the draft amendment to the Penal Code, especially in the field of art. 155, which is currently under consideration in the Sejm. The union reminds that an attempt to tighten penalties under Art. 155 KK already took place in 2020. At that time, HRM asked the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Health to undertake urgent work aimed at separate treatment of medical errors and their consequences by the provisions of the CC - so that they would not be covered by the provisions on "inadvertent causing death "(Article 155 of the Penal Code). In the assessment of HRM, one should distinguish between actions carried out by well-intentioned doctors (and other medical personnel) in order to help other people who make a mistake resulting in the patient's death, from actions carried out from the beginning with the intention of causing harm to another person. The amendment to the Criminal Code presented by the Government shows that the doctors' position has been disregarded. In view of the above, OZZL demands that the proposed tightening of the CC in the scope of Art. 155. Position in the attachment.

The National Board of ZZZL declares:

"The proposal to amend the content of Art. 155 of the Penal Code, providing for stricter penalties for" manslaughter "from the previous sentence of 3 months to 5 years of imprisonment to 6 months to 8 years of imprisonment, will also result in increased penalties for doctors for medical errors. Some of such cases are classified as a prohibited act under Article 155 of the Penal Code. In addition, the court will not be able to conditionally discontinue criminal proceedings in such a case, because in accordance with Article 66 § 2 of the Criminal Code, conditional discontinuance does not apply to the perpetrator. offenses punishable by more than 5 years imprisonment Such steps will make the practice of a medical profession, especially surgical specialties, even more dangerous than it is today and will lead to an even greater deficit of doctors in these specialties, where there are already huge shortages.
It should be pointed out that the tightening of the penal sanctions for crimes under Art. 155 of the Penal Code, there is also no preventive justification, as it concerns, in principle, unintentional crimes, that is, it concerns perpetrators who do not act consciously or with a preconceived intention. It cannot be assumed that when performing medical procedures, bona fide doctors are acting to harm patients - such an assumption is a priori false and undermines confidence in the medical and dental profession.
The tightening of the criminal sanction under Art. 155 KK will strike, without any justification, directly at all doctors! We do not consent to such actions and request that the changes to criminal liability under Art. 155 of the Criminal Code!
ZZZL will ask MPs of the Republic of Poland to block the legislative process in the field of unacceptable amendments to Art. 155 of the Polish Penal Code and voted against such changes that harm the Polish health care system and, in a completely incomprehensible manner, undermine the trust of doctors who, acting only in good faith and with good intentions, help save human life and health. "

Source: OZZL