Relevance of medical reports in criminal investigations of cases of suspected child abuse

Abstract

If a case of physical child abuse is suspected in Germany, the general feeling is often that "it does not matter whether you make a report or not" because, generally, no conviction is made anyway. This study investigates the juridical analysis of complaint cases of physical child abuse [criminal complaint parag. 225 StGB (German penal code) with filial victim]. It focuses on the doctor's role and the impact of their practice in relation to a later conviction. It is based on the analysis of 302 files of the enquiry from 2004-2009 from the department of public prosecution in Cologne, Germany. Besides general epidemiological data on the reporting person, the affected child and the presumed offender, the documents were reassessed for the relevance of medical reports for successful convictions. Only 7% (n = 21) of 302 complaints led to a conviction. In 38.1% (n = 8) of those cases, a medical report was mentioned as a piece of evidence, and just in two cases a (legal) medical report was quoted and mentioned as relevant for the conviction. 50% of the complaint cases with legal medical expertise led to a trial. In contrast, only 30.2% with a common medical report and 7.3% without a report led to a trial. The results show how a medical report existed in only a few cases. In those cases, the rate of performed trials was higher than for those without a medical report, but the report played a minor part when reasoning a verdict.

Legal Outcomes of Suspected Maltreatment Cases Evaluated by a Child Abuse Pediatrician as Part of a Multidisciplinary Team Investigation

“…For example, a study conducted in Hungary from 2000 to 2015 reported that 48% ( n = 205) of the 426 child sexual abuse cases reviewed had legal proceedings with only 9.6% of perpetrators ( n = 41) receiving judgments from the court (16). The closest comparable information to the current study took place in Germany which operates under a civil law system, and, as such, is not comparable to the common law system predominantly used in America (17). As Syam explains, “The main difference between the two systems is that in common law countries, case law—in the form of published judicial opinions—is of primary importance, whereas in civil law systems, codified statutes predominate” (18).…”

Experiências De Profissionais De Saúde No Manejo Da Violência Infantil

“…Apesar de os profissionais de saúde desempenharem importante papel na rede de proteção da criança e no manejo dos casos de violência (12)(13) , e de os direitos ligados à infância e à juventude estarem expressos em constituições e declarações nacionais (4,7) e internacionais (14) , a universalização da garantia desses direitos ainda é um desafio atual (5) .…”