ABSTRACT
This chapter explains that differences in substantive criminal law play a significant role in the criminalisation of healthcare negligence in France and England and Wales. The range of conduct which can give rise to criminal charges in France, in the healthcare context, is much broader than in England and Wales, where so far, only gross negligence causing death could be subject to criminal prosecutions. By contrast, in France, mere negligence causing death or injury is criminalised. In France, both individual health professionals and health institutions can be subject to the same criminal charges, whereas in England and Wales it has been very difficult to prosecute and convict healthcare institutions for failings which have caused death. French criminal courts’ interpretation of causation rules also means that health professionals are more easily convicted, even for conduct which only indirectly caused a patient to die or be injured. The chapter illustrates and compares these differences using examples of cases of healthcare negligence which were subject to criminal prosecutions and/or convictions in both France and England and Wales.
