Psychiatric Assessments in Criminal Proceedings
There are a lot of different moving pieces to criminal proceedings. People often think of the prosecution and the defence along with the presiding judge and the empanelling of a jury of peers.
However, the presence or absence of mens rea also forms a key part in determining a guilty or not guilty verdict. Sometimes, psychiatric assessments are a tool employed to help assess the capacity to form a mens rea, along with other key metrics.
Essentially a form of expert evidence, these assessments can help give every party to the criminal proceedings reliable information that can be used as a puzzle piece in order to ascertain the whole picture.
What are psychiatric assessments
Conducted by qualified professionals, psychiatric assessments can be requested by prosecutors, the defence team or the judge to help gain an insight into the accused’s mental state both now and at the time of the alleged crime.
Using comprehensive techniques and methods, these assessments work to evaluate the state of an individual’s mental health. While psychiatric assessments are a tool by which to provide a whole picture of someone, they can also work to protect vulnerable people’s interests during the oftentimes complex legal process.
These assessments often form the basis of providing attorneys, judges and juries with the information needed to understand the innate complexities of humanity, how decisions are made and how a person’s decision making may be influenced by certain mental health factors.
How are they used in criminal proceedings
The findings from psychiatric assessments can impact virtually every aspect of criminal proceedings, thus highlighting their importance in certain cases. In one instance, findings from these assessments can influence whether or not a defendant is even competent to stand trial in the first place.
From there, assessment outcomes may also impact what is called ‘fitness to plead’. In terms of the actual offence, psychiatric assessment findings may cause the notion of diminished responsibility to be used in cases of murder.
With convictions in criminal court, it is often stated that mens rea is needed in order to reach a guilty verdict. Essentially, mens rea means knowingly committing an action that you understand to be wrong. As such, psychiatric assessments help to inform stakeholders if the accused had the capacity to form mens rea at the time of the alleged crime.
The findings from psychiatric assessments are also critical to determining different defences. Based on the evidence provided by a qualified professional, the defence team might enter a defence of insanity.
It’s also important to note that psychiatric assessments are used across a range of criminal proceedings. Not necessarily reserved for murder cases, they can also be employed during proceedings pertaining to alleged cases of assault, sexual offences, domestic violence offences and terrorism offences.
The place of psychiatric assessments in criminal proceedings
Whether psychiatric assessments are ordered by the prosecution or the defence, the subsequent findings often provide all parties privy to the legal matter with invaluable insights. Not only will things like mental state and behavioural history be key, but individual motivations will also come to the fore.
Psychiatric assessments are examples of scientific evidence. This level of expert testimony will give everyone involved with the criminal proceeding access to relevant information that will help in the decision-making process, whether that be the jury, the attorneys or the judge.
This invaluable insight provides a way in which to understand how a certain mental health condition can impact a person or cause them to act in a way that is considered to be outside of their normal behaviours.
It is important to note that in criminal cases, there is an opinion that the presence of mental health and criminal behaviour are not linked. Rather, it acknowledges that mental health conditions can influence someone to behave in a way that is outside their norm.
By providing an outlet in which to realistically consider mental health and the associated outcomes, the legal process is affording all individuals with equal treatment. By accommodating those dealing with mental health differences, fairer outcomes can be achieved.
Summing up
Criminal law processes are inherently complex. Whether operating as a judge, prosecutor, defence attorney or member of the jury, key to participating in proceedings is knowledge. This knowledge will help to lay the foundation for decision-making.
One way to infuse knowledge into criminal proceedings is to enter into evidence a psychiatric assessment. Whether ordered by the court, the prosecutor or the defence team, these assessments provide invaluable insights.
The assessment is formed from an expert in the field evaluating an individual accused of a crime and their capacity to make decisions and understand right from wrong. Underpinning this assessment will be determining whether a mental health condition impacts this decision making.
Protecting the interests of vulnerable people all while ensuring a level of fairness within the legal system for every individual, psychiatric assessments play a key role in criminal law proceedings.