Collision of duties as a defence of justification in the circumstances of pandemic
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5937/crimen2002132VKeywords:
collision of duties; necessity; triage; pandemic; guidelinesAbstract
The global crisis over the Covid-19 virus pandemic has raised some questions that are relevant to criminal law as well. Disturbing news are coming from several countries about the deaths of many people because of the inability of healthcare professionals to provide them with adequate medical care due to a lack of mechanical ventilation devices. In this regard, the question arises as to what are the criteria by which to decide who will be connected to the ventilator and how the decision-making of doctors in these tragic life and death issues can be facilitated. The paper deals with the institute of the so-called collision of duties, which in some legal systems constitutes an independent cause for the exclusion of unlawfulness and, in some cases, a type of necessity. In comparative law, a number of different criteria are met by which patients should be triaged in disaster situations. The author concludes that the adoption of appropriate guidelines can establish a standard of due diligence that would to some extent remove the burden of decision making from physicians.
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Copyright (c) 2020 Igor Vuković
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