On Thursday 6th May, The Hughes Hall Centre for Biomedical Science in Society is hosted an open lecture by Professor John Spencer (Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge) entitled "Prosecuting Medical Professionals: As Doctors say, 'There's a lot of it about'".

The criminal law traditionally punishes those who knowingly and intentionally misbehave. In recent years, however, the reach of the criminal law has been steadily expanded; it is widely said that over 3,000 new criminal offences have been created since the general election of 1997. Many of these new offences create criminal liability for negligence, rather than for deliberate fault. Medical professionals are among those who are increasingly caught in this ever-widening net. In his lecture Professor Spencer will examine the present criminal liability of medical professionals, and give his own views as to whether the current law is satisfactory.