ITHBĀT ʿANĀṢIR AL-MASʾŪLIYYAH AL-MADANIYYAH FĪ MUNĀZAʿĀT AL-ADWIYAH: DIRĀSAH MUQĀRINAH
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30863/aldustur.v9i2.11450Keywords:
Proof., Fault, Defect, Damage, Causation, PharmaceuticalsAbstract
In the legal field, proof plays a fundamental role in ensuring justice and strengthening legal security, as it serves as the means to uncover the truths of facts and present evidence before competent judicial authorities to support or refute claims. Its importance becomes even greater when it concerns proving the conditions for civil liability in pharmaceutical cases, which are both legally and technically complex. Despite significant advancements in legislation aimed at protecting pharmaceutical users, substantial challenges remain in proving fault, defects, causation, and damages due to the technical complexity of pharmaceutical products. This study highlights these challenges and evaluates the adequacy of the current legal framework, focusing on the Moroccan context and comparing it to the French and American legal systems. By adopting a comparative analytical approach that examines legal texts and judicial positions, the study concludes that the current legal rules suffer from significant shortcomings in addressing pharmaceutical cases. It calls for improving evidentiary mechanisms, such as adopting presumed liability and shifting the burden of proof in favor of affected pharmaceutical users. Furthermore, the study proposes enacting specific legal provisions to facilitate the establishment of civil liability, enhancing the judiciary's role in adopting flexible judicial presumptions, implementing comprehensive documentation systems to ensure transparency in all stages of pharmaceutical production and distribution, and launching awareness campaigns to empower affected pharmaceutical users to understand and claim their legal rights.
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