The right of doctors to strike in Serbian legislation

Abstract

Doctors as health care providers have the right to exercise and protect their labor rights, including the right to strike, and citizens have the right to health. Does exercising the right to strike call into question medical ethics and violate the right to health? This paper will try to answer that dilemma. Different scientific methods were used in the paper in order to cover the topic comprehensively – normative method, comparative method and logical research, research by department, descriptive method, analysis and synthesis of available literature, as well as relevant announcements and analysis of judicial practice. The right of doctors to strike is recognized by international and national regulations, including the regulations of the Republic of Serbia. However, the key issue in organizing a strike is to ensure a minimum work process, which in essential services should ensure harmony between the right to strike and the right to health, but not to marginalize the impact of the strike and create the appearance of normal work. We can conclude that the right to strike doctors is their inalienable right that ensures respect for the medical profession, with necessary restrictions that protect the basic ethical values of the profession itself, but also of the entire society.

Keywords: essential services; health care; right to health