Legal medicine in Turkey

Abstract

This chapter is dedicated to the legal medicine in Republic of Turkey, as a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia and Thrace in the Southeastern Europe. Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic, with an ancient and historical cultural heritage. It has become increasingly integrated with the West through membership in organizations such as the Council of Europe, NATO, OECD, and the G-20 major economies. Turkey has also fostered close cultural, political, economic, and industrial relations with the Eastern world, particularly with the Middle East and the Turkic states of Central Asia, through membership in organizations such as the Islamic Conference and Economic Cooperation Organization. Beyond this background information, first of all, the meaning of legal medicine in the country has been described with different dimensions. This chapter has subparts as follows: “The Historical Background of Legal Medical Applications in Turkey,” “Turkey as a Secular Country Within the Islamic World and Medical Jurisprudence,” “Main Features of Medical Law in Turkey at the Present Day,” and “Conclusions.” A few historical samples, especially related with early consent forms, have been given. The secular legal feature of Turkey in Islamworld has also stressed, and its importance on legal medicine has been emphasized. A few selected examples from local laws and regulations have been explained in detail. Concerning this subject, Medical Deontology Regulation, The Law on Population Planning, and The Law Related with Organ and Tissue Explanting, Preserving, Grafting, and Transplanting are some ones which have been covered in the main text. The last part of the chapter is dedicated to the subject of medical responsibility; this concept has been described and the different forms of physician’s liabilities have been mentioned.