Wrongfull death: the officers of the laW point of vieW

Abstract

There are a large number of physicians who have a feeling of caution at the moment a wrongfull death should
be evoked or not. After having questionned the totality of the criminal investigation department officers (CID) and
the public prosecutors of a french department, it appears that there is a difference of opinion as to the objectiv and
relevance of the wrongfull death. These differences are mainly due to the perceptions of death: where officers of
the law essentially highlight the penal or non-penal aspect of the death, physicians attach as much importance to
inheritance as public health and penal problems. Regular meetings among physicians, CID and magistrates, with
installation of mutual information procedures, appear to be an efficient solution to the different points of view.