Disclosure of Medical Confidentiality in Criminal Proceedings and Criminal Liability of a Doctor

The paper is devoted to the conflict between the duty to protect medical confidentiality and the interests of justice in criminal proceedings and substantive criminal law. The article contains considerations on medical confidentiality in relation to the legal and social obligation to notify authorities on the commission of a criminal act, as well as the maintenance of medical confidentiality in evidence proceedings in a situation where a doctor acts as a witness (taking into account the issues of protection of the so-called psychiatric secrecy and the secrecy of the doctor assisting the accused as regards the patient’s statements concerning the commission of a criminal act). A situation in which the obligation to keep medical secrecy limits the possibility for the depositary to exercise the right of defence is also analysed. In addition to proposals for resolving the presented conflict-of-law situations, the issue of attributing criminal liability to a doctor for the offence of not informing law enforcement authorities about the commission of a prohibited act (Article 240 paragraph 1 of the Penal Code) and the offence of disclosing professional secrecy against the provisions of the Act (Article 266 paragraph 1 of the Penal Code) in the presented conflict-of-law situations is considered.