[Medical expert assessment in civil and criminal law from the medical viewpoint].

The demands on a medical witness are discussed. Physicians have to learn to deal with the legal conditions of their profession but lawyers have to be ready to understand the circumstances of the medical activity. Since 1975, independent medical bodies in the form of arbitration committees and expert boards have been founded in the Federal Republic of Germany. This extended the field of action for medical experts. However, a definition of the term "expert" is missing. There are rules for the continuing medical training by the German societies of physicians which should guide the courts.