Duration of the compulsory psychiatric forensic hospital treatment compared to maximum penalty sentences in the Republic of Croatia

Abstract

Introduction Legal system, by the nature of its involvement, has the tendency to create boundaries of forensic psychiatric (in)patient care. In 2014, after the introduction of the new Law of the Protection of Persons with Mental Disorder in the Croatia new boundaries were created within the article: compulsory hospitalized treatment of insane person cannot be longer that maximum penalty sentence prescribed for that offense. Objectives To analyze the duration of hospitalization of forensic psychiatric inpatients at the University Psychiatric Hospital Vrapce's Centre for Forensic Psychiatry and compare these findings to a prescribed maximum penalty sentence. Aims To test appropriateness of the new regulative introduced with the new Law. Methods Available data from all forensic psychiatric inpatients that committed crimes of murder, attempted murder, grave murder, threat, personal injury or domestic violence that were dismissed within 10 years before the introduction of the new Law were analyzed. Results The analysis included a total of 168 inpatients. The mean durations of hospitalizations for all six categories of crimes did not exceed maximum penalty sentences prescribed by the latest corresponding law, although in some rare individual cases they did. This was present within the categories of crimes of domestic violence (mean duration: 20.6 months with maximum duration: 68 months), and threat (mean duration: 24, maximum duration: 89). Conclusion Although arguably with the best intentions (unacceptability of negative discrimination), legal system created unnecessary tension as it imposes legal principles over clinical and moral ones. Deeper analysis of possible mediators of the duration of hospitalization are identified and presented.