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Dr. '''{{FULLPAGENAME}}''', B.Sc., MBBS, FRACGP, is a [[Circumcised doctors| circumcised doctor]], general practitioner, and Jewish ''[[mohel]]'' who practises medicine in Melbourne, Victoria, [[Australia]]. The ''Daily Mail'' reports that the [https://www.medicalboard.gov.au Medical Board of Australia] has banned him from performing [[circumcision]] after he amputated the [[penis| penises]] of two boys while performing ritual circumcisions in homes.<ref>{{REFnews
|title=Top circumcision doctor is banned from performing the operations after amputating two little boys' penises, tribunal hears
|website=
|date=2024-05-24
|accessdate=2024-05-25
|format=
}}</ref>
Many Jews believe that the ritual of [[Brit Milah]] is required by the so-called [[Abrahamic covenant]], which is the most sacred ritual of [[Judaism]], although it is increasingly being questioned.<ref>http://www.amazon.com/Questioning-Circumcision-Perspective-Ronald-Goldman/dp/0964489562/</ref>Reports from [[Israel]] indicate that many Jewish parents are not having their sons [[circumcised]].
Non-therapeutic "cosmetic" circumcision has long been banned at public hospitals in [[Australia]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|accessdate=2024-05-25
}}</ref>
== Potential civil and criminal liability ==[[Davis Richards]] (1996) quoted Marion's case, which said:<blockquote>"[W]here there is a doubt about the therapeutic character of a proposed procedure, those who would be involved in the procedure may be at risk if they act merely upon a purported authorisation given by the parent or other guardian."<ref>Secretary, Department of Health and Community Services v JWB and SMB (1992) 175 CLR 218 at 275.</ref></blockquote>Richards concluded:<blockquote>Ritual male circumcision is non-therapeutic and is not warranted or justified by medical evidence. This form of mutilation should not be legally distinguished from female circumcision which is a form of female genital mutilation presently in the process of being prohibited throughout Australia and the Western world. As ritual male circumcision is non-therapeutic, may be against public policy, and clearly is not in the best interests of the child, a parent's consent may be vitiated, leaving persons involved in the procedure liable in negligence, notwithstanding parental religious beliefs. Alternatively, if a medical practitioner fails to give the parent reasonable information on the risks of and alternatives to ritual circumcision, the practitioner may also be liable in negligence.<ref>David Richards. [https://www.cirp.org/library/legal/richards/ Male Circumcision: Medical or Ritual?] 3 J Law Medicine 371 (1996).</ref></blockquote>[[J. Neville Turner]], Professor of Law at Melbourne's [https://www.monash.edu/ Monash University ] and president of [https://www.ozchild.org.au/ Oz Child], has argued that "circumcised boys may sue."<ref name="turner1996">{{REFjournal
|last=Turner
|init=N
|author-link=
|url=https://www.noharmm.org/boysmaysue.htm
|title=Circumcised boys may sue
|journal=The Health Law Update (Australia)
|accessdate=2024-05-25
}}</ref> Professor Turner cited Marion's case, the 1992 High Court of Australia case regarding parental consent.<ref>[https://www.globalhealthrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/HC-1992-Marions-Case.pdf Department of Health & Community Services v JWB & SMB] (“Marion’s Case”) (1992) 175 CLR 218; [1992] HCA 15</ref>
Boyle et al. (2000) suggested that [[circumcision]] of incompetent minors may constitute criminal assault. They also suggested that civil liability may apply and cited cases in which damages were obtained for circumcision.<ref>Gregory J Boyle, J Steven Svoboda, Christopher P Price, J Neville Turner. [https://www.cirp.org/library/legal/boyle1/ Circumcision of Healthy Boys: Criminal Assault?] 7 J Law Med 301 (2000).</ref>
It is not clear what civil and/or criminal penalties Dr. Goldman may face.
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Jean-Marie Huot]]
* [[Australia]]
{{REF}}
[[Category:Jewish]]
[[Category:Judaism]]
[[Category:Male genital mutilation]]
[[Category:Mohel]]
[[Category:Perpetrator]]
[[Category:Physician]]
[[Category:Australia]]