Background Report Implementing and Developing the Law of Medical Errors: the role of judicial and legislative bodies Maen shihda Ideis1 The right to life and physical safety is one of the most fundamental inherent human rights. For this reason, lawmakers have developed legislation which classifies any actions that cause offence to this right as prohibited actions under national penal codes as well as international declarations and conventions on human rights. Though errors might occur in all professions and occupations, greater emphasis and focus is placed on the errors that cause injury, impairment or sometimes death within the health professions. In the countries where the physical safety of human beings is respected, lawmakers who enact laws and the judiciary which applies these laws have developed the provisions which criminalize negligence of precautionary measures by healthcare and medical professionals. They have adopted new legal theories that emphasize the sanctity of human life. The Role of the Judicial System in Developing Medical Malpractice Laws The enactment of laws regulating redress and compensation of victims of medical malpractice cannot take place all at once, and can only take place gradually. Sufficient time is needed, for example, to demonstrate the need for and then convince people of the importance of such laws. It also will require juridical reviews and advanced judicial applications whereby the judicial system adopts more modern theories that contribute to the interpretation of the provisions of existing law, even if is outdated. Importantly, the victims of medical errors have not surrendered to the shortcomings of these provisions, and quite to the contrary, they have urged the judiciary to further develop the application of the effective provisions of law and to draft new and efficient rules. The rules and the process itself might be modeled initially after those of the French Council of State and then the French Court of Cassation in regard to 1 Maen shihda ideis is a member of the Palestinian Bar Association, and a major Legal Researcher at the Independent Commission for Human Rights- palestine. 1