[Assessment of fitness for police custody: the physicians' responsibility and legal liability].

In contrast to several other European countries, German law provides only insufficient regulations on who is responsible for the medical assessment of persons in police custody. The police frequently report that doctors refuse to assess fitness for custody. Under consideration of the current legal background, we will discuss whether and, if so, which physicians can be obligated to carry out these assessments. We also examine a physician's possible exposure to criminal and civil liability if he or she refuses to assess fitness for custody or fails to render a correct assessment. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.