Responsibility of the physician in the Islamic Penal Code of 2013

Recent provisions to the Islamic Penal Code have provided favorable regulations that absolve the skilled physician from absolute liability and adjust liability according to fault. The revised code adopts a new approach by allowing physicians more freedom while providing added protection، which is consistent with ethical standards and Jurisprudential principles. The present paper aimed to investigate the development process of statutory laws in Iran regarding medical liability and at the same time analyze articles of the Islamic Penal Code of 2013 on the subject. Some articles have been found to contain ambiguities that need to be modified. As an instance there seems to be a conflict between Article 492 and Clause 1 of Article 496 that should be resolved as it pertains to a case of the cause and the perpetrator (physician and nurse). In these situations the doctor orders and the nurse acts، and it is therefore necessary and proper that physicians not be absolved from liability.