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Criminal Defence for Doctors: Negligent Homicide and Negligent Injury through Medical Malpractice

If you are charged with a negligence offence arising from your medical practice, it is not only a financial claim at stake — your liberty, your criminal record and your medical licence are all at risk. The case is decided by technical evidence: Court-Appointed Expert Report, Causal Link and the Lex Artis.

Important: this guide is for doctors only

If you are not a doctor and have been charged with negligent homicide or negligent injury (for example, in a road traffic accident or other incident), see the relevant guides: Homicide and Injury Defence or Road Traffic Accidents.

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If your practice or clinic has been searched or medical records have been seized: go directly to 24-hour Bail & Release.

This is not "an insurance matter": in the criminal proceedings, the disqualification of your medical licence is at stake

In medical malpractice cases, many defences fail because the criminal proceedings are treated as an appendix to the civil claim. The insurer covers the money, but it will not save you from a disqualification order or a criminal record.

In charges of Negligent Homicide (Art. 84 PC) and Negligent Injury (Art. 94 PC), the debate is not about how much to pay — it is about whether you breached your duty of care. We litigate the technical elements of objective imputation: permissible risk and causation.

Protecting Your Medical Licence

Special disqualification is the most serious collateral consequence for a doctor. It affects your hospital positions, on-call duties and private practice. From day one, our strategy prioritises avoiding the conviction that would prevent you from practising.

Urgent Checklist

Strategic Silence

Do not make any spontaneous statements at the police station and do not speak to the patient's family to "explain yourself". Everything can be used against you.

Medical Records

This is your primary line of defence. Make sure the records are complete, progressive and secure. If they are digital, preserve all access logs.

Defence Expert: cases are won or lost at the expert stage. We work with specialist medical consultants to scrutinise the autopsy and the medical panel.

Technical Defence: Forensic Medicine and Criminal Law

Expert Report Control

The autopsy and the medical panel are the "real trial". We appoint defence-side experts to scrutinise the questions put to the court-appointed expert, prevent bias and scientifically challenge the stated cause of death or injury.

Contesting Causation

It is not enough that there is harm and a doctor was present. The prosecution must prove that your act or omission caused the result. If the outcome was due to the natural progression of the illness or a risk inherent in the treatment, there is no offence.

Principle of Reliance

In medical teams (surgery, emergency), liability has defined limits. We defend the division of tasks: the surgeon relies on the anaesthetist, the senior doctor on the specialists. You are not responsible for the errors of others.

Resources and Case Analysis

Case Law: Negligence and Malpractice

Rulings on medical malpractice, standards of objective imputation and the assessment of expert evidence in criminal medical cases.

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Case Beltrán: Contradictory Expert Reports

How a medical malpractice case is resolved when the court-appointed and defence experts disagree. Reasonable doubt in medical litigation.

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Liability in Medical Teams

Article on the Principle of Reliance and how liability is allocated between the team leader and individual specialists.

READ ARTICLE

The Role of Informed Consent

Many charges of negligent injury are based on a failure to provide adequate information to the patient. Informed consent is not a mere bureaucratic formality — it is the proof that the patient accepted the known risks of the procedure.

We review the legal validity of your consent forms to transform a "harm" into the materialisation of an accepted "permissible risk", which excludes criminal liability.

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Frequently Asked Questions

The civil claim seeks financial compensation (usually covered by the insurer). The criminal proceedings concern your personal liability: a criminal record, possible imprisonment and disqualification from practising medicine. That is why you need your own criminal defence lawyer — not just the insurer's.

Stay calm and do not make any spontaneous statements. Preserve the medical records (original and certified copy) and all supporting documentation (consent forms, protocols). Do not contact the patient's family. Contact us urgently so we can take over the defence before irreversible expert proceedings take place.

Special disqualification is a penalty provided for negligent homicide and negligent injury. Our priority strategy is to avoid a conviction and protect your licence. We assess alternative outcomes depending on the case and the sentencing range.

The insurer's lawyer defends the company's financial interest. You need a lawyer who defends your liberty and your professional career. Their strategies often conflict — for example, the insurer may want to settle, but that can imply admitting criminal guilt. We recommend independent specialist criminal defence.

Do not give a statement without a lawyer, and do not improvise off-the-cuff explanations. A poorly framed declaration is very difficult to correct. It is usually best to review the case file and medical records first. Sometimes it is preferable to reserve the right to make a statement until the technical evidence and expert report are under control.

The medical record is the central piece of evidence. Never modify or retrospectively complete it — that could itself constitute an offence. If records are seized, insist on a detailed seizure inventory and chain of custody. If digital, preserving the access logs is critical. Do not hand over originals without a formal procedural framework.

Yes — administrative or ethics disciplinary proceedings can run in parallel to the criminal case. Uncoordinated defence is dangerous: anything you say in disciplinary proceedings can be used against you in the criminal trial. We work to prevent self-incrimination and protect your professional practice throughout the litigation.

Under the objective imputation theory (Roxin), "permissible risk" refers to the level of risk society accepts in necessary activities such as medical practice. It is exceeded when the professional breaches the Lex Artis or objective duties of care. If you acted within the permissible risk, the conduct is not punishable even if harm results.

No. The second requirement for objective imputation is that the impermissible risk must materialise in the result. There must be a causal link connecting the two. If the death would have occurred even had the doctor acted correctly (alternative lawful conduct), the result cannot be attributed to you.

In endangerment offences (such as unlawful possession of a firearm), the risky conduct itself is punished. In result offences (homicide, injury), the prosecution must prove a direct causal link between your negligent conduct and the harm caused. If that link is not established with certainty, acquittal follows.

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Do not leave your career to chance or to a generalist lawyer. We analyse your case with strict professional confidentiality and technical expertise.

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