[Basic features of medical liability]

Medical liability is one of the most important parts of law that regulates health services. Although there are different types of liability in the field of medicine (criminal responsibility, disciplinary proceedings) civil law liability holds central position. Civil law liability in medicine (medical liability) is probably more important than criminal responsibility and disciplinary proceedings because of the number of cases in comparison to the criminal responsibility and impact of the consequences in comparison to the disciplinary proceedings. Medical liability is governed by a (general) tort law. Therefore medical liability exists only if conditions for civil law liability are met. When considering medical liability it is necessary to emphasize that tortfeasor will not be liable only because victim sustained the damage, but if all conditions for liability are met. Medical liability will arise if actions of physician are not conducted lege artis or in a breach of the duty of care. In some cases of medical liability legal sources are directly applicable (informed consent). General tort law is also applicable on decisions in the respect of the damages.