Postmortem forensic psychiatric examination in criminal proceedings

Abstract

The article reflects the specifics of postmortem forensic psychiatric examination in criminal proceedings. It is carried out a scientific search for the features of this examination in expert-oriented studies and interviews of expert psychiatrists. It is found that the expert assesses the mental state of the deceased person in their absence on the basis of the person’s medical documentation and the materials of the criminal proceedings. It is determined that expertly significant information is not always reliable and sufficient for the expert to fulfill the duties assigned to them. In this case, the expert must use the rules of Part 4 of Art. 69 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine and refuse to give an opinion. In its turn, the court should perceive the conclusion of the postmortem forensic psychiatric examination as a source of evidence that needs to be carefully checked and evaluated in order to make a legal judgment in criminal proceedings.
 Based on the analysis of judicial practice materials, it has been proven that the conclusions of the postmortem forensic psychiatric examination are used in criminal proceedings for the purpose of evaluating: versions regarding the possibility of a person to commit suicide; the mental state of the suspect, the accused, the person against whom coercive medical measures were supposed to be applied, after their death; reliability of testimony or explanations of the victim who died; reliability of testimonies or explanations of a witness who died; the presence in the expert’s actions of the composition of the criminal offense provided for in Art. 384 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
 It is proposed to standardize the grounds for closing criminal proceedings upon the death of a person for whom coercive medical measures were supposed to be applied and to supplement Paragraph 5, Part 1 of Art. 284 of the CPC of Ukraine by a new subject – a person in relation to whom the application of coercive medical measures was intended. It is established that criminal proceedings regarding the use of coercive medical measures cannot be closed on the basis of Paragraph 2, Part 1 of Art. 284 of the CPC of Ukraine in the absence of the subject and the subjective party of the criminal offense.