Volume 19, Issue 60 (4-2025)
MLJ 2025, 19(60): 1216-1230 |
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Rahmani Mahlabani M, Ghanbarpour B, Abbasi M. Economic Analysis of Suspension of Medical and Healthcare Contracts in the Legal Systems of Iran and the United Kingdom. MLJ 2025; 19 (60) :1216-1230
URL: http://ijmedicallaw.ir/article-1-1970-en.html
URL: http://ijmedicallaw.ir/article-1-1970-en.html
1- Department of Private Law, Qaemshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qaemshahr, Iran.
Abstract:
Background and Aim: The economic analysis of the suspension of medical and healthcare contracts, especially in the context of the legal systems of Iran and the United Kingdom, is a specialized and emerging issue in the interaction between contract law, health law and legal economics. The conceptual distinction between "suspension of contract" and "suspension of contract execution" is necessary in this context, because in medical contracts, the principle of the contract (such as the obligation to treat or provide medical services) is usually not canceled, but rather the temporary execution of some obligations is postponed - for specific reasons such as force majeure conditions, unexpected medical emergencies or the practical impossibility of performing treatment.
Method: The present research method is descriptive-analytical. In this regard, reliable library sources, including primary sources, namely laws and regulations governing the suspension of contract execution in the field of health in both the legal systems of Iran and the United Kingdom, are used.
Ethical Considerations: In this study, ethical considerations such as compliance with confidentiality, non-plagiarism and reference to original sources were considered as ethical priorities.
Results: In the Iranian legal system, regulations governing the suspension of contract performance are not explicitly foreseen in the civil law, but reliance on the general rules of contractual liability and the principles of preventing hardship and hardship in Imami jurisprudence, especially Articles 227, 229 and 230 of the Civil Code, provide a basis for accepting the temporary suspension of obligations. In contrast, the English legal system, using the common law tradition, makes a clear distinction between the suspension of a contract and the suspension of its performance. In landmark decisions such as "National Health Service Trust v. Dr.Axe" (2020), English courts have temporarily suspended the performance of some medical obligations for reasons such as lack of necessary resources, unforeseeable clinical risk, or conflict of public and private interests, without considering the principle of the medical contract to be dissolved. In this context, the principles of "neutralization" and "temporary impossibility of contract execution" are considered effective institutions in the economic analysis of suspension.
Conclusion: From the perspective of economic analysis of law, in both systems, compliance with the principle of fairness, transparency in informing the patient and compensation for possible damages are considered prerequisites for the legitimacy of suspension. Accordingly, the economic analysis of this institution within the framework of medical contracts requires a simultaneous understanding of the requirements of medical ethics, the structure of health insurance and the fundamental doctrines of contract law.
Please cite this article as:
Rahmani Mahlabani M, Ghanbarpour B, Abbasi M. Economic Analysis of Suspension of Medical and Healthcare Contracts in the Legal Systems of Iran and the United Kingdom. Medical Law Journal. 2025; 19: e74.
Keywords: Suspension of Contract Execution, Medical Contracts, Medical Contracts, Physician's Contractual Liability, Economic Analysis of Law
Type of Study: Original Article |
Received: 2025/07/14 | Accepted: 2025/12/13
Received: 2025/07/14 | Accepted: 2025/12/13
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