European Legislative and Juridical Overview

The first part of this chapter gives an introduction to what is a comparative overview of medical liability in Europe, while the second part focuses on medical liability in Western Europe in both Civil and Common Law systems, concentrating on Fault, Contractual and Extra-Contractual Responsibility, Standard of Care, and Burden of Proof. The third part of the chapter examines the key role of mediation in Medical Responsibility in Court Systems and Administrative Systems. The following sections discuss, respectively, the models in place in the Scandinavian countries, the French experience of medical liability, and the “Loi Kouchner”, including the English experience of the NHS Authority Litigation and the key role of mediation. Finally, medical responsibility in Eastern Europe is discussed, focussing on Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Russia, and Lithuania, while the chapter concludes with a discussion of the present and future perspectives with regard to the issue of medical liability in Europe.