An Investigation to Infection Control of Communicable Diseases and Its’ Related Criminal Laws

• Main Authors: Rong-Dih Lin, 林榮第
• Other Authors: none
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/90570062395560315189

碩士 === 東吳大學 === 法律學系 === 95 === Millions of human lives were deprived by many important communicable diseases in our past history. Humans still cannot prevent themselves from infections caused by microbes. Threat to the health and lives of humans caused by the communicable disease is a significant problem at all times. Because of population imigration, import of products and introduction of foreign labourers and brides, communicable diseases can be introduced into and cause outbreaks in our country. The impact caused by communicable diseases is great in many fields. Infection control of communicable diseases is an important issue in our national health policy. How to build up a complete legal system for establishment of legal duty in the prevention, supervision, and management of communicable diseases is a difficult but important task. SARS(Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) spread and caused outbreaks in 2003 in Taiwan. The impact caused by SARS on financial, political and social systems is very great. SARS also had a great effect on the systems of public health, medical care and health insurance. The medical, political and legal systems for emergent management of communicable diseases did not work well in the SARS event. The Communicable Disease Control Act was recently revised in 2004, but the law department did not take the complete legal system for infection control of communicable diseases into consideration. The Communicable Disease Control Act revised in 2004 will not work well in the management of emerging communicable diseases in the future. Legal problems related to infection control of communicable diseases were always considered from the point of view of administrative law. Any infection control related problem which offend against legal interests of public safety , should be discussed from the point of view of criminal code. The extent of legal interests involved in infection control is extensive and which included legal interests of personal liberty, health, life, property and public safety. Punish in Infection control of communicable disease included fine, imprisonment and peace preservation measures. In order to attain the purpose of infection control of communicable disease, the criminal procedure is applied in the punishment of an act at the time of its commission of a crime. An act which offends the laws involved in infection control of communicable disease should be punished according to administrative law. Moreover it could be punished according to the criminal code if the condition is severe. The related criminal code included Article 130. ( A public official who neglects his duties thereby causing a catastrophe ), Article 192. ((I) A person who violates a quarantine law or order concerning inspection or immigration promulgated for the prevention of contagious disease, (II) A person who endangers public safety by exposing a corpse having infectious germs or who by other means spreads disease germs), Article 285.( A person who knows that he has a venereal disease or leprosy, conceals such fact, commits an indecent act or has carnal relations with another and causes such other to be infected), Article 271.( A person who kills another ), Article 277. (A person who injures the body or health of another), Article 278. (A person who causes serious bodily harm to another), Article 294. ( A person who by law, order, or contract must support or protect a helpless person but who abandons him or does not give him support or protection necessary to preserve his life ), Article 182. (A person who during a fire or flood conceals, damages, or destroys an instrument or apparatus intended for protection against fire or flood or who otherwise impairs the work of fire protection or flood prevention), Article 276. II (A person who in the performance of his occupation commits an offence specified in the preceding paragraph by neglecting the degree of care required by such occupation), Article 284. II ( A person who in the performance of his occupation causes bodily harm to another by neg1ecting the degree of care required by such occupation), and Article 91 (A person who commits an offence specified in Article 285 may be ordered to enter a suitable place for compulsory treatment). Beside of it, an act which offends the laws involved in infection control of communicable disease could be punished according to Communicable Disease Control Act and AIDS Prevention and Control Act. When the communicable disease outbreaks caused significant damage of legal interests, the criminal Judicial department should investigate an offence actively by criminal procedure in order to attain the purpose of infection control of communicable diseases. The criminal Judicial department may investigate the person committing an offence by aggressive criminal procedure such as arrestment and summons. The person who offends the orders concerning infection control of communicable disease could be arrested according to Article 88. of code of criminal procedure. The quarantee who offends the orders and suspiciously commits a crime could limit his residence according to code of criminal procedure in quarantine period. The quarantee who commits a crime may be under observation but it is not listed in code of criminal procedure. A person who commits an offence may be ordered to enter a suitab1e compulsory treatment, but it should be undertaken under the agreement of the Court within 24 hours. The criminal procedure should proceed after no evidence of infection is noted which can be achieved by expert examination and compulsive treatment. Whether the procedural act may be performed by a visual technique or not is not listed in code of criminal procedure. Legal effect of it wait for further evaluation. The best policy for infection control of communicable diseases is to control the risks caused by communicable diseases. Supervision and control of the source of the risks is an obligation on the person who has the duty to control and prevent communicable diseases. It is necessary to build up a legal system for the risk control of communicable diseases. The Communicable Disease Control Act revised in 2004 only asks the people to obey the order legislated by the competent authority, but the legal obligation to control the communicable diseases of the competent authority is not listed in the Communicable Disease Control Act. A complete legal system for control of the communicable diseases should be built up by intergration of competent authority and health organizations and experts in law, public health and the professionals in medicine and set up practical methods and legal principles that can secure the health of our country people. We hope that the authority may pay more attention to the control of communicable diseases and the practitioners of legal profession will face up to the gravity of this issue, and therefore realize the legislative intent of protecting the lives and health of people by way of judicature.