"The Emergency Committee of the Medical Association decides on collective action through voting..."To disperse leadership responsibilities" [Asking the legal community 359]

Amid the accelerating collective action of doctors against the government's plan to increase medical schools, legal experts predicted that if doctors' groups continue to stick to illegal strikes, the mastermind will be arrested and participating doctors will also be reprimanded at the level of accomplices. In particular, the legal profession said it would determine the contents of the start and end of collective action in the medical community through voting, which is interpreted as an action to disperse the responsibility of the leadership.

According to the medical community on the 27th, the emergency committee of the Korean Medical Association held a meeting of representatives of doctors from across the country at the Korean Medical Association Hall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, at 2 p.m. on the 25th, and raised its voice, saying, "The policy to increase the number of medical colleges will lower the quality of medical education and increase medical costs, so it needs to be reviewed from the ground up." They said, "The goal of 140,000 doctors is to discuss and review the government's wrong policy from the ground up," adding, "I believe that 140,000 members of the emergency committee will move with the same mind until the goal is achieved."

Lawyer Kim So-jeong (lawyer Kim So-jeong) said, "If the group of doctors does not change their position that they will continue to resist, in the worst case scenario, the leaders will be arrested. Some doctors may not want to participate in the collective action, but the reason why they led them to participate in illegal rallies is because of the high level of punishment," he said. "Posing irresistible psychological pressure is an act that is recognized as illegal. In particular, doctors who participate in the medical strike could be reprimanded as accomplices."

"The medical crisis is causing damage to the entire nation. An illegal strike that collateralizes the lives and bodies of the people is an act without justification," lawyer Kim said. "The level of punishment will vary depending on the degree of abuse, but we will never face low punishment."

Ahn Young-rim, a lawyer (Seon-seung, a law firm), said, "The emergency committee of the medical association will decide the contents of the start and end of collective action in the medical community through voting. This is likely to be an action to disperse the responsibilities of the leadership," he said. "When the doctors of the leadership say, 'We did not lead' during the trial after being prosecuted, they may express that the doctors of the medical association voted."

Lawyer Ahn said, "According to Article 15, Paragraph 1 of the Medical Law, if a medical institution founder or medical personnel receives a request for medical treatment or early childbirth, they cannot refuse without a justifiable reason. Therefore, alliance closures and collective resignations may be interpreted as refusal of medical treatment because they cannot be viewed as justifiable reasons," he said. "However, since the government has issued an 'order to commence work', it is highly likely that the government will issue an administrative disposition that it has not completed the order to return to work."

Kim Jae-sik, a lawyer (Apex), said, "The visiting patient may file a lawsuit claiming that 'the doctor in charge does not continue the treatment without a justifiable reason'. However, the doctor in charge may attend the court and refute that 'he used his vacation properly and participated in the strike,' but added, "From the hospital's point of view, if the doctor in charge participates in the strike for a long time, he or she will suffer damage due to his absence. Therefore, the doctor in charge may not be able to provide services to patients, and the hospital may take issue with the loss."

Date: 2024-02-27

Reporter: 서화목