Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Health Bill includes provisions for restorative justice for medical and health workers who are dealing with legal issues, Head of the Legal Bureau of the Ministry of Health Indah Febrianti has said.

"In the sentencing policy, there is a restorative justice mechanism that prioritizes mediation," she said at a "Kemen-Cast" dialogue event, which was followed online on Wednesday.

The mediation mechanism involves related parties and a mediator in seeking a solution to a problem. The mediation aims to encourage a peaceful settlement.

"Thus, it actually does not try to punish the perpetrators, so it is more about recovering from the impacts," she added.

Febrianti noted that legal protection for medical and health workers is already outlined in Article 57 of Law Number 3 of 2014 concerning Health Workers.

"Words on rights of legal protection actually already exist in medical practice, midwifery laws," she said.

Because the Health Bill is an omnibus bill, it is very unlikely that the existing regulations will be eliminated, she added.

She further said that as long as medical and health workers do their jobs in accordance with the professional, service, and operational procedure standards, the government has an obligation to provide legal protection.

Lawsuits against medical and health workers will be preceded by disciplinary enforcement that involves the Honorary Council of Ethics to provide inputs to law enforcers regarding the provisions that have been violated.

"In the bill, currently, we are enforcing the principle of legal protection for medical and health workers more," she said.

The Health Ministry has also added a number of articles to emphasize the aspect of legal protection, such as the government's responsibility to provide legal protection, among others, during disaster or emergency services.

"We also proposed that medical and health personnel that aim to save lives and disabilities are excluded from compensation claims. That is a good article in this legal protection so that they can do their jobs more calmly," she said.

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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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