Pregledni rad
https://doi.org/10.31141/zrpfs.2023.60.149.565
Court-medical expert witness testimony of suspicious death and bodily injuries in criminal proceedings
Marina Carić
orcid.org/0009-0008-6587-3511
; Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Splitu
Sažetak
When deciding on the topic of this paper, the author was led by the belief that this was a current
and interesting topic about which, although a lot had been discussed, but a lot had not been said. That
is, the question arises of whether court medical expert witnesses represent a particular sub-category
of the medical profession that supervises and specializes precisely in a particular circle of expertise
aimed exclusively at them. Therefore, an analysis of the history of court-medical expert testimony
and forensic medicine, which demonstrates how the role of court-medical expert witnesses, and
this scientific discipline has been built up. After taking into account the general issues and specific
characteristics of court-medical expert testimony, the middle section of the paper is dedicated to
concrete forms of expert testimony such as post-mortem examination and autopsy, examination and
autopsy of a fetus and examination and autopsy of a new-born child. Then the author deals another
category of expertise of bodily injuries where expert witnesses evaluate the seriousness of bodily
injuries with the aim of qualifying them pursuant to the Criminal Act. An analysis is provided
of expert testimony on bodily injuries, serious bodily injuries, aggravated bodily injuries, serious
bodily injury with the consequence of death, and negligent bodily injuries. The author consequently
reaches the conclusion that medical expert testimony included in this paper should be exclusively
and mandatorily published by specially educated court-medical expert witnesses and this should be
expressly prescribed by law. Also, choosing the Institute of Court Medicine and Criminalistics of the
Faculty of Medicine in Zagreb as institutions for expert testimony is considered to be a good choice.
It can also be said that court medicine is the only medical profession that systematically deals
with the issue of expert witnessing in the area of criminal and civil law. It is precisely court medicine,
by linking legal science and medicine, that has promoted the development of medical law as a new,
significant branch of law.
Ključne riječi
criminal procedural law; court-medical expert testimony; evaluating the seriousness of bodily injuries; expert witness testimony on suspicious death
Hrčak ID:
309503
URI
Datum izdavanja:
6.11.2023.
Posjeta: 664 *