287. The Court recalls that, in the instant case, after suffering an obstetric emergency,
Manuela was reported by her physician for the possible “perpetration of a crime.”446 Based on
this report, Manuela was investigated for “the unlawful act of abortion. ”447 The laws of El
Salvador regulate medical professional secrecy ambiguously and, in practice, this has meant
that, to avoid being sanctioned, medical personnel report women suspected of having
committed the offense of abortion (supra paras. 213 to 216). Moreover, the confidentiality of
medical records and the exceptional nature of their disclosure is not regulated sufficiently
(supra para. 228). Consequently, the Court deems it pertinent that the State adopt, within
two years of notification of this judgment, clear regulations on the scope of medical
professional secrecy, the protection of medical records, and the exceptions, pursuant to the
standards described in this judgment (supra paras. 211 to 228). These regulations should
explicitly establish: (i) that medical and nursing staff do not have an obligation to report
women who have received medical attention for possible abortions; (ii) that, in such cases,
health personnel must observe medical professional secrecy when questioned by the
authorities; (iii) that the failure of health personnel to report such cases does not entail
administrative, criminal or any other type of reprisal, and (iv) the situations in which medical
records can be disclosed, and clear safeguards for the protection of this information and the
way in which it may be disclosed, requiring that this only occurs as the result of a reasoned
order from a competent authority, following which, only the part required in the specific case
may be disclosed. Until such regulations come into force, the Court finds it appropriate to
order the State, as it has in other cases,448 to refrain from applying the current laws
concerning the obligation of health personnel to report possible cases of abortion.
288. In addition, the Court notes that the clinical and technical guidelines provided by the
State lack clear directives on medical professional secrecy. Consequently, and in light of the
context in which the facts occurred, the Court finds it necessary that the State adopt, within
one year of notification of this judgment, a protocol on attention for women who require
urgent medical care for obstetric emergencies. The protocol must be addressed to all public
and private health care personnel in El Salvador, establishing clear criteria to ensure that,
when attending to these women: (i) the confidentiality is ensured of the information to which
the medical staff have access owing to their profession; (ii) the access to health services is
not conditioned by their presumed perpetration of an offense or by the patients’ cooperation
in criminal proceedings, and (iii) the health personnel refrain from questioning the patients in
order to obtain confessions or to report them. When elaborating this protocol, the State must
take into account the criteria developed in this judgment and in the Court’s case law, and it
should conform to the standards described in paragraphs 211 to 228 of this judgment.
D.2 Adaptation of the regulation of the imposition of pretrial detention
289. The Commission asked the Court to order El Salvador to “ensure that, in both law and
practice, the use of pretrial detention adheres to the standards described in [the Merits
Report].” The representatives replicated the Commission’s request. The State referred to
2020 (evidence file, folios 5813 to 5914); Ministry of Health of El Salvador. Technical guidelines for the application
of code orange in the health service network (RIIS), December 2017 (evidence file, folios 5915 to 5943); Ministry of
Health of El Salvador. Technical guidelines for the application of code yellow in the health service network (RIIS),
June 2016 (evidence file, folios 5949 to 5972), and Ministry of Health of El Salvador. Technical guidelines for the
application of code red in the health service network (RIIS), July 2015 (evidence file, folios 5973 to 6006).
446
Report of the treating physician of February 27, 2008 (evidence file, folio 22).
447
Request for a search warrant of February 28, 2008 (evidence file, folio 27).
Cf. Case of Hilaire, Constantine and Benjamin et al. v. Trinidad and Tobago, supra, para. 212, and Case of
Fermín Ramírez v. Guatemala. Merits, reparations and costs. Judgment of June 20, 2005. Series C No. 126, para.
130(c).
448
79