Landmarks in the development of forensic medicine in the Maltese Islands

Abstract

Between 529 and 564 A.D. in Malta appeared the Justinian legal enactments which provided for the regulation of the practice of medicine, surgery and midwifery; laid down the penalties for malpraxis and provided for the calling of medical experts to assist the judiciary by their knowledge and by the expression of medical opinion in cases of sexual impotence, rape, poisoning and mental illness. As Malta formed part of the Roman world at this period, it is presumed that the Justinian code was applied by Maltese courts in their legal procedures . The Justinian laws represented the highest point of development of forensic medicine in the ancient world and nothing of comparable status is to be found until the seventeenth century when Fortunato Fedele (1550-1630) published his De relationibus medicorum in 1602 and Paolo Zacchia (1584-1659) brought forth his Quaestiones medico- legales between 1621 and 1635. History is not very revealing about the origins or forensic medicine in the Maltese Islands but from an examination of various scattered sources we can glean fragmentary evidence of the application of medical knowledge to the elucidation or legal issues appearing before Maltese courts prior to the publication of Fedele's and Zacchia's works . The earliest landmark that has so far come to light belongs to 1542 .