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LIBEL
AND RIGHT TO INFORMATION
REMARKS
ABOUT AN EARLY SENTENCE OF THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS DEALERS CENTRAL COMMITTEE
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Background
On may 11 1998 the M.D. Medicinae Doctor Magazine, issued an article
drawn up by two general medicine physicians and entitled: "Corrupted,
squanderers or deceived by the system?" dealing with the well know event
that within the criminal process "Poggi Longostrevi" involved more than
three hundred family doctors.
Cleary and with equanimity the two columnists focused readers' attention
over administration and State bodies' legislative lacks and mainly over
the real difficult for family doctors to manage the complex terminology
of nuclear medicine, a specialist field, within which it rooted the
illicit facts the judicial authority charged them.
This
way it was put in light on a side the real possibility that many physicians,
involved in the scandal, were fully bone fide and on the other side
that the scarce safeguarding warranted by the Medical Association of
the image of the involved physicians, damaged by disciplinary measures
even before the return of the verdict of guilt. The only answer of the
Medical Committee of the Medical Association of Milan and province was
the decision to start a disciplinary process against the two columnists
by attributing to the offending article slanderous statements that would
compromise the dignity and the prestige of the Association. The disciplinary
process ended with the infliction of the disciplinary measure of the
cessation of work for two months. Against such disciplinary action the
two blamed filed a petition with the Health Professions Dealers Central
Committee. Judge's impartiality and disciplinary measures .
The
case showed some interesting problems. First of all the incompatibility
of the medical association as regard to a disciplinary process within
which this organ held both the conflicting positions of judging organ
and injured party. More exactly the defence demurred in the petition
the infringement of art. 64 D.P.R. 221/50 (Discipline Of Health Professions
And Related Crafts).
Jurisprudence, on this point, individuates as required and unfailing
element, in order to the right enforcement of this norm, the warranty
of independence and impartiality of the judging organ. The prominence
of the right, warranted by constitution, of judge's impartiality, must
be lawfully recognised to any modality the jurisdictional function is
practiced, either ordinary or special.
Even
if being self-evident the effectiveness of the principle 'nemo iudex
in causa propria', even within the Medical Association, the organ that
presided and decided the disciplinary measure against the two physicians
was, as already highlighted, also involved as the injured party of the
behaviour the physicians was charged of.
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