title: [Permanent essential defacement--remarks on the possibilities of verification of the accepted criteria in medico-legal certification in criminal and civil law proceedings].
abstract: Despite the fact that some criteria of medico-legal certification in criminal and civil proceedings have been established, there are still some topics which are controversial and thus require modification. This is also true of the notion of "permanent essential defacement". In the opinion of the authors, changes in social conventions that are occurring nowadays, as well as a highly diversified, subjective perception of esthetic values indicate the need for discussing a possible modification of the presently obligatory criteria. Apart from the assessment of posttraumatic changes, an important problem is posed by defining the notion of "a part of the body customarily open to the view ". Additionally, the authors bring up for discussion the issue of experts taking into consideration the age and sex of the victims while assessing damages. A separate problem lies in difficulties in assessing the degree of detriment to health because of defacement due to the fact that official tables for evaluating permanent or long-term detriment to health do not include relevant information.
authors.affiliation: Katedry i Zakładu Medycyny Sadowej Saskiej Akademii Medycznej w Katowicach.
authors.forename: Czesław
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chowaniec
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nowak
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jabłoński
authors.forename: Stanisława
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Neniczka
mesh_terms: D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004954:Esthetics; D005104:Expert Testimony / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000592:standards; D005151:Facial Injuries / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D011044:Poland