CRIMINAL LIABILITY ARISING FROM DRUG TRIALS (COMPARATIVE STUDY)

Abstract

The study of criminal liability related to pharmaceutical experiments had been conducted with a focus on Jordanian law and in comparison, with the legal regimes of France and Egypt. These changes of the drug trial system have been of utter vital importance in the advancement of medicine. But yet, the ever-present legislations and ethical gaps sometimes freeze aging efforts of having wrongdoers punished, especially in cases where such trials ended in the harm or outright violation of the rights of the participants. With the descriptive-analytical methodological approach grounded on doctrinal and comparative legal analyses, the research scrutinized major national laws such as Jordan's Drug and Pharmacists Law No. 12 of 2013, Pharmaceutical Studies Conducting Law No. 67 of 2001, and Medical and Health Liability Law No. 25 of 2018, alongside international conventions like the Declaration of Helsinki, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The findings pointed towards an inconsistency of laws in Egypt, a stronger requirement of institutional liability in France, whereas Jordan reveals substantive gaps in regard to definition and enforcement. In particular, penal sanctions in Jordanian law can go as far as five years imprisonment, and fines can reach 20,000 dinars; however, institutional responsibility specifically in relation to non-therapeutic trialsand institutional responsibility. The study recommends harmonizing national legislation with international ethical standards to ensure effective accountability, protect vulnerable populations, and balance pharmaceutical innovation with fundamental human rights.