Summary

This spring, the Tallinn senior prosecutor partially closed a criminal case which had caused uproar in Estonia. The criminal case was brought against doctors who did not give a blood transfusion to a child on the demand of the parents, adherents of the sect of Jehovah’s witnesses, as a result of which the child died. This tragic case three years ago gave rise to heated discussions among doctors themselves. Unfortunately, the discussions reached a deadlock.
The author examines the legal and ethical problems arising from the refusal of Jehovah’s witnesses from blood transfusion to themselves and their children. First, the author analyses why doctors need to ask for the consent of parents and how binding such consent or its absence is from the legal perspective. Further, the author addresses the issue in the context of medical ethics. Finally, the author poses the question whether the order partially closing the criminal case is permissible from the point of view of procedure law.