Patient Autonomy and Criminal Law

The rights of the patient over his / her own body require that medical intervention on the body can only be done with the consent of the patient. In the absence of consent, even if the physician has made a medical intervention in order to cure the patient, medical intervention is illegal. Just the patient's enduring the surgery can be considered as material and moral damage and may also cause criminal law liability as it will be discussed in detail below.Consent of the patient has been regulated in Turkey in constitution (۱۹۸۲), in Law on the Practice of Medicine and Branches (۱۹۲۸) and in statute on patient rights (۱۹۹۸).No one should understand this summary of legal situation in Turkish medical criminal law to imply that patient-autonomy-centered principles of medical law and medical ethic have triumphed in Turkey. We mostly have no problem regarding legal provisions. Also in practice, there are no major violations in terms of obtaining the patient's consent. Significant shortcomings are involved in informed consent.Reqarding criminal responsibility we don't have significant cases. Even if such cases are in question, the theoretical facts may not be reflected in practice from the standpoint of the judiciary. As a result, I can say that Patient's autonomy is properly protected by private law, but not by criminal law in Turkey. However, as a professor who has been working in the field of medical law and criminal law for many years, I can say that I am in favor of limiting the criminal law liability of physicians.