| Criminal allegations in disciplinary cases involving health practitioners. | |
| | |
MedLine Citation:
|
PMID: 19205302 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
|
Recently the Supreme Court of New Zealand decided that the standard of proof in disciplinary proceedings against a registered health practitioner is the ordinary, civil "balance of probabilities" standard, even in cases where criminal or serious allegations are made. Adopting recent House of Lords' case law, it rejected the existence of a third standard of proof, the "flexible" or "heightened" civil standard commensurate with the seriousness of the issue involved. Neither did the court consider direct application of the criminal, "beyond reasonable doubt" standard appropriate in disciplinary proceedings. Secondly, the court adopted a new principle that it is an abuse of process to bring a disciplinary charge against a practitioner, which is the same or substantially the same as that which he or she faced in the criminal proceedings and which resulted in an acquittal. It is not, however, an abuse to bring disciplinary charges after a criminal acquittal based on the same conduct, providing the disciplinary charges address wider aspects of the practitioner's conduct. The court was split on both issues. This column analyses the decision, supporting it on the first issue, but not the second. |
| | |
Authors:
|
Joanna Manning |
Publication Detail:
|
Type: Journal Article; Legal Cases |
Journal Detail:
|
Title: Journal of law and medicine Volume: 16 ISSN: 1320-159X ISO Abbreviation: J Law Med Publication Date: 2008 Dec |
Date Detail:
|
Created Date: 2009-02-11 Completed Date: 2009-03-03 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
|
Nlm Unique ID: 9431853 Medline TA: J Law Med Country: Australia |
Other Details:
|
Languages: eng Pagination: 393-404 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
|
Faculty of Law, University of Auckland. |
Export Citation:
|
APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
|
Criminology* Employee Discipline* Health Personnel / legislation & jurisprudence* Humans New Zealand |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
Previous Document: Reforming coronership: international perspectives and contemporary developments.
Next Document: Court-ordered treatment for serious offenders with mental illness.