Limiting Criteria for Criminal Liability in Medical Negligence: Refer to the discussion between Germany and Japan

It would not be an exaggeration to say that medical accidents occur every day. Medical officials are complaining about the subject of criminal punishment for such medical accidents. Although it will be unfair in many ways from the perspective of the victim who suffered a medical accident, the increase in criminal punishment for medical accidents will be very burdensome for medical workers. Regarding the increase in criminal punishment for such medical accidents, the medical community continues to point out the unfairness. Regarding criminal punishment for such medical accidents, in Japan, there were also questions about the application of occupational negligence to doctors (the first leaflet of Article 211 of the Japanese Criminal Act) in the wake of the Fukushima Prefectural Ono Hospital incident in 2004. The main reasons for this are that criminal punishment is not necessarily effective in improving doctors' medical technology, securing medical safety, preventing recurrence, and shrinking medical practices due to the imposition of criminal punishment. Meanwhile, in Germany Jürgens is also pointing out the expansion of criminal punishment for medical personnel. Relief for crime victims is also possible by civil compensation and administrative punishment, but in terms of illegality and accountability, criminal trials should be made and appropriate punishment should be made. However, it seems necessary to consider the specificity of medical practice, consider the disadvantages of criminal punishment for medical personnel, and consider them in various aspects in relation to the scope of negligence. Therefore, in this paper, the contents of discussions in Germany and Japan regarding the limitation of criminal responsibility of doctors were reviewed, and the criteria for limiting criminal responsibility for reasonable medical personnel were reviewed.