Criminal Responsibility of a Doctor who refuses to Treat Persons Infected with the Corona Virus in Health Laws - A Comparative Analytical Study between Jordanian and Emirati Laws

Abstract

The subject of this study focuses on clarifying the criminal responsibility of a doctor who refuses to treat persons infected with the corona virus. The study based on the legal approaches of laws of medical responsibility of both of Jordan and UAE, as well as the Jordanian Defense Order No (23) of 2020. The current study, deals with various problems, one of the most important of them is that both the Jordanian Law on Medical and Health Responsibility and The UAE Law on Medical Responsibility punish the doctor who refuses to treat  Covid-19 patients , with a mitigated penalty, which is the penalty of a fine, and section (5/3) of the UAE Medical Responsibility Law prohibits the doctor from refraining from providing medical service for non-serious disease cases, but without establishing a penal penalty for violating this prohibition. The study also raises a fundamental question - what is the extent of the criminal responsibility for the doctor's refusal to provide medical services to persons infected with the Corona virus in the Jordanian and Emirati health laws?

In this study, the analytical approach adopted to analyze the provisions of the UAE and Jordanian health laws related to the subject of the study, as well as the comparative approach, to compare the provisions of the aforementioned laws, and to clarify the points of agreement and contrast between them.

At the end of this research, there are some recommendations suggested to be taken into consideration such as the necessity of existing a legal provision in the laws of medical responsibility that criminalize act of any doctor refuses to do his medical tasks in emergency cases and impose prison upon him since this punishment fits with such crime