Criminal Protection of Medical Confidentiality (Study in French, Bahraini and Libyan Law)

Abstract

One of the most important human rights is the right of privacy. This right in its simplest sense means that no person should be allowed to see someone else’s private personal data without a legitimate reason. The importance of confidentiality in the medical field increases when it comes to medical records of a patient, as the patient is obliged to reveal his private information to the doctor in order to make an accurate diagnosis. Although the criminal legislator has intervened in the legislations under study to provide protection for medical confidentiality, practical practices have revealed an increase in cases of violation of medical data privacy, which requires the need to provide good protection for the right to confidentiality. The study revealed the weakness of the data privacy protection established by the Libyan legislature, in terms of criminalization as well as in punishment. Bahraini legislator is also another example of weak data privacy protection. In addition, the cases of exemption from punishment were not clearly defined, although a bit better at handling this situation. In contrast, medical data privacy enjoys effective protection in the French legislation, even when it comes to a Covid-19 patient.