The insurance of the health sector staff defending against the risks of pandemic coronavirus COVID-19

The break out of the pandemic coronavirus COVID-19 crisis at the beginning of the year 2020, made it necessary to provide all the health sector staff with the life insurance against the risks of pandemics in general, and the pandemic coronavirus COVID-19 in particular. It is to be noted that the contract of insurance is one of the nominate contract regulated by the Iraqi civil law No.40 of 1951. In this brief article we shall be focused on the importance of the insurance for health sector staff in two fields: the first is the insurance from the risks of pandemic coronavirus COVID-19, and the second is the insurance from their liability in defending against this pandemic. After this brief introduction to the importance of the insurance, I want to emphasize that this legal article will try to solve the problem encountering the insurance of the health sector staff against pandemics, and this problem is embodied by the nature of the insured risk, or the risk as the subject-matter of the insurance as follows:

1.The insurance of the health sector staff from the risks of pandemic coronavirus COVID-19: The health sector staff working nowadays, to eradicate the serious consequences of this pandemic, urgently need the insurance from this new type and unprecedented pandemic. It is common understanding that the Iraqi civil law No.40 of 1951 regulated the contract of the insurance in the articles from (983) to (1007). It is also common legal knowledge that the risk is the subject-matter or the object of the contract of the insurance. and if the risk is not available, the contract will be nullified. But the obstacle facing the insurance of the health sector staff against pandemics is included within the nature of the risk itself. It is widely-held and well-established legal doctrine that featuring characteristic of the risk is that it should not be general, but homogeneous. This means that the process of insurance can not be made, if the risk to be insured against is a general phenomenon that affects a high percentage of population, like the pandemic coronavirus COVID-19 spreading world-wide nowadays. Therefore, we recommend that the well-established doctrine that the risk should not be general, should be amended to adapt the new situations created by the dissemination of this far-reaching pandemic. We also recommend that the risks of this pandemic be excluded from other risks, which are outside the extent of the insured risk, such as risks originating from various economic crises, or natural catastrophes or disasters. This proposal is based upon the appalling statistics extracted from hospitals and other health institutions all over the world, pointing out the high percentage of mortality doctors, clinicians, nurses and other health sector staff members.

2.The insurance of the health sector staff defending against pandemic coronavirus COVID-19 from their liability: The liability insurance or insurance against liability is a contract concluded between the perpetrator of the injurious act, that is to say, the insured and the insurer, represented by the insurance company. According to which the insurer will be obliged to indemnify or compensate the damage which the insured inflicts on the victim of the injurious act. It is to be noted that many legal effects will arise from the contract of the insurance against liability, the most important of which is that if the insured inflicts the damage on the victim, the burden of indemnification or compensation will transfer to the insurer, who is prohibited to pay the damages to anyone else other than the victim of the illegal act. In conformity with the article (1006) of the Iraqi civil law No.40 of 1951. Which provides that (The insurer may not pay to other than the victim the entire or part of the sum of the insurance agreed as long as the victim has not been compensated for the harm he has suffered). It should also be remembered that the exemption or exoneration from the liability and the insurance against liability are similar in that the person responsible for injurious act, will avoid paying the compensation. But they are different in that the insurance against liability will transfer the burden of indemnifying from the person responsible for injurious act to the insurer, whereas the exemption clause from liability will exonerate the person responsible for injurious or unlawful act completely from the liability. Except in the extent of the liability from the unlawful or illegal act, the exonerating clause from the liability shall be nullified. In accordance with the third section of the article (259) of the Iraqi civil law, which provides that (Every stipulation exonerating from the liability which results from an unlawful act shall be null and void). Finally, we can conclude that insurance of the health sector staff members against liability, may give them protection against their unintentional faults perpetrated during struggling campaign against pandemic coronavirus COVID-19.