Assessment Of Criminal Responsibility Research Articles

What is important in forensic psychiatric evaluation in people with Down syndrome? A sample from Türkiye

Purpose Down syndrome is one of the common genetic causes of intellectual disability. Adult with Down syndrome may have many psychiatric comorbidities. Therefore, their mental health status should be considered in legal proceedings such as criminal responsibility and legal capacity where they are involved. This study aims to highlight that individuals with Down syndrome are often referred directly to forensic psychiatry without undergoing an interview, despite the fact that this is a group with varied mental statuses. Design/methodology/approach This study analysed the socio-demographic, clinical and forensic characteristics of eight adult individuals with Down syndrome for whom the Council of Forensic Medicine (CFM) requested an opinion on criminal liability and other legal situations between 2018 and 2022. The CFM is an authoritative institution to which cases from all areas of Türkiye are referred. Findings The mean age of the individuals with Down syndrome for whom a forensic psychiatric opinion was requested was 24.63 (±7.95) and the mean IQ level was 54.13 (±13.38). All cases were male, 6 / 8 were referred for assessment of criminal responsibility and 4 / 6 of those referred for assessment of criminal responsibility were referred for sexual offences. It was found that 5 / 8 of the cases had moderate intellectual disability and 3 / 8 of the cases had mild intellectual disability. Research limitations/implications Regarding the limitations of this study, the first one is the small sample size. Nevertheless, due to the low prevalence of people with Down syndrome in society, it is plausible that their stigmatization may not be reflected in the judicial system, even in cases involving violent behaviour. The second limitation is that the reports lack all psychiatric medical documents, including forensic psychiatric evaluations of individuals with Down syndrome. Additionally, additional diseases were recorded based on familial anamnesis. The third limitation is that this study is the first publication to investigate Down syndrome from a forensic psychiatric perspective. Thus, there is a lack of literature to make direct comparisons and references in the discussion section. Social implications This is the first study about forensic psychiatric aspects for people with Down syndrome. The aim of this study was to examine the forensic psychiatric approach in Down syndrome, one of the most common genetic causes of intellectual disability, the situations in which forensic psychiatric assessment is required and the issues that might be considered important in this regard. Although there are various publications in the literature on the psychiatric conditions of individuals with Down syndrome, to our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate individuals with Down syndrome in terms of forensic psychiatric evaluation. People with Down syndrome are known to have varying degrees of intellectual disability and different types of psychiatric comorbidity. Originality/value People with Down syndrome are a heterogeneous group in terms of intellectual disability. The criminal responsibility and legal capacity of individuals may vary according to the legal situation. When requesting forensic psychiatric evaluation of these patients with psychiatric co-morbidity, patients should not be prejudged in terms of their level of mental competence and each case should be assessed individually.

Criminal responsibility and profile of Turkish firesetters with schizophrenia

This study aimed to examine a subgroup of Turkish firesetters diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) for their motives, individual and offense-related characteristics and courses of action, and their association with expert assessment of criminal responsibility. A cohort of 50 arsonists with SSD, who underwent assessment for criminal responsibility by the Council of Forensic Medicine in Turkiye between 2009 and 2022, was analyzed using a comprehensive retrospective file review. Multivariate analyses indicated that being female, older, experiencing hallucinations at the time of the offense, having a primary diagnosis of SSD other than psychotic disorder not otherwise specified, and no prior convictions were associated with a higher likelihood of being found not criminally responsible. Singling out a definitive profile of SSD arsonists without criminal responsibility is challenging. Our findings, based on forensic expert assessments, suggest that positive psychotic symptoms and criminal history play crucial roles in determining criminal responsibility in this group.

Criminological and Psychiatric Profiles of Immigrant and Refugee Offenders: A Retrospective Analysis of Cases in a Forensic Setting.

This study aimed to scrutinize the characteristics of immigrant and refugee offenders within our institution, focusing on factors such as immigrant status, country of birth, duration of residence in Turkey, as well as psychiatric, socio-demographic, and criminal profiles. The data were obtained through a retrospective examination of case records referred to the Observation Department of the Council of Forensic Medicine for the assessment of criminal responsibility between 2017 and 2022. The study categorized the cases into two groups: refugees and immigrants, comprising 35 and 22 offenders, respectively. Significant differences in educational levels were identified between immigrants and refugees within our study group (p < .001). Notably, drug use disorders were more prevalent among refugees, whereas alcohol use disorders were more common among immigrants, with statistical significance (p < .005). During forensic psychiatric assessments, 57.1% of refugees and 54.5% of immigrants required interpretation services. The most prevalent offense in the refugee group was homicide (37.1%), followed by child sexual abuse (28.6%). In contrast, homicide (31.8%) and theft and extortion (22.7%) were the most common offenses for the immigrant group. Six cases (10.5%) were judged to have reduced or no criminal liability. Among the cases, 52.6% had a history of prior outpatient psychiatric referrals, with the most frequent diagnosis being atypical psychosis at 10.5%. The findings underscore the necessity for additional research and targeted interventions to address the mental health and criminological complexities confronted by this vulnerable population.

α-Pyrrolidinohexanophenone (α-PHP) vs. α-pyrrolidinoisohexanophenone (α-PiHP): A toxicological investigation about plasma concentrations and behavior in forensic routine cases.

New psychoactive substances (NPS), like pyrrolidinophenones, are still very present on the illegal drug market. The presented study reports on two members of this substance group, α-pyrrolidinohexanophenone (α-PHP) and α-pyrrolidinoisohexanophenone (α-PiHP), which occurred in forensic routine cases in the last 6 years. α-PHP could be detected predominantly by a validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) method in 33 authentic human plasma samples and α-PiHP in 8. α-PHP concentrations ranged from ca. 0.75 to 128 µg/L (mean: 23.2, median: 16.3) and α-PiHP concentrations from 7.33 to 118 µg/L (mean: 44.7, median: 33.7, quantified via α-PHP). Individuals were predominantly male and middle aged. As different studies have shown, some pyrrolidinophenones are able to cause aggressive behavior. Therefore, we set out to investigate the relation of α-PHP and α-PiHP plasma concentrations and the behavior of the consumers, reported by police and medical experts. Part of the subjects showed aggressive behavior, including agitation and restlessness. Lethargic and unremarkable behavior might be explained by co-consumption of other drugs, such as opiates/opioids, benzodiazepines, pregabalin or alcohol as well as by drug tolerance and subacute effects of stimulants. Multi-drug use could be detected in all cases; also stimulating substances and multiple different pyrrolidinophenones were determined. Nevertheless, users of α-PHP and α-PiHP showed a tendency to act aggressively, possibly triggered by a high selectivity for dopamine transporter inhibition. In accordance, committed offenses were often violent crimes. This might be considered in terms of toxicological assessment of criminal responsibility and driving ability.

Sharpening the subjective element of criminal liability in South African law

South African criminal law holds to a conception of human beings as morally autonomous, which is consistent with the right to dignity. The individual is the foundation of society and law, and must not be treated as an object or instrument. The right to dignity is limited by a guilty verdict, given the punitive and stigmatising consequences which follow. The infringement of the right to dignity which follows conviction is unjustifiable, unless the finding of liability is based on the offender’s control and choice. But a guilty verdict equally resonates with the right to dignity, by treating the offender as a responsible human agent. The basis for a guilty verdict is founded on blameworthiness. It follows that the subjective element of criminal liability is crucial in the just functioning of the assessment of criminal responsibility. Despite an earlier reliance on objective notions, following the pioneering work of JC de Wet, South African law has developed into a system of criminal responsibility based on a subjective, principled approach to liability, the ‘psychological approach’. The justifications for, operation of, and opportunities for further refinement of this vital feature of substantive South African criminal law forms the fabric of this article.

Influencing factors for assessment of criminal responsibility in patients with mental disorders: A forensic case analysis between 2010 and 2020

BackgroundIn China, police departments usually initiate assessment of criminal responsibility after patients with mental disorders commit crimes. However, the specific conditions demanding assessment are not clearly stipulated by law. Few studies have been conducted on the epidemiological characteristics and assessment of criminal responsibility in patients with mental disorders. This study aimed to analyze the features and identify influencing factors for assessment of criminal responsibility for patients with mental disorders in a single-center cohort. MethodsCases undergoing criminal responsibility assessment at the Center of Forensic Science, East China University of Political Science and Law in Shanghai (CFS, ECUPL) between 2010 and 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Criminal responsibility was categorized as criminal irresponsibility, diminished criminal responsibility, and full criminal responsibility. Differences among the groups were then statistically analyzed. ResultsIn the study period, 437 patients including 361 males (82.61%) were referred for criminal responsibility assessment. Their ages ranged from 15 years to 91 years. After assessment, the number of cases with criminal irresponsibility, diminished criminal responsibility, and full criminal responsibility were 196 (44.85%), 181 (41.42%), and 60 (13.73%), respectively. The Chi-square test and nominal regression analysis showed that influencing factors for assessment of criminal responsibility comprised crime in public places (OR = 14.734; 95% CI: 1.463–148.424), crime in victim's residence (OR = 10.852; 95% CI: 1.068–110.214), crime in suspect's residence (OR = 9.542; 95% CI: 1.046–87.092), forensic psychiatric diagnosis of F1X (OR = 0.014,0.011; 95%CI:0.001–0.261,0–0.5), F2X (OR = 5.75; 95%CI:1.315–23.145), F4X (OR = 0.077; 95%CI:0.016–0.38,) and F6X (OR = 0.112,0.075; 95% CI: 0.022–0.558,0.006–0.959), criminal object of property (OR = 9.989; 95% CI: 1.305–76.455), cases of theft (OR = 0.09, 0.087; 95% CI: 0.013–0.648,0.012–0.654), and cases of endangering public security (OR = 0.152, 0.205; 95% CI: 0.034–0.678, 0.045–0.931). ConclusionCrime in public places, suspect's residence and victim's residence, forensic psychiatric diagnosis of F1X, F2X, F4X and F6X, criminal object of property, case types of theft and endangering public security were influencing factors in assessment of criminal responsibility. Therefore, special attention should be paid to patients with mental disorders under such circumstances in order to avoid bias on assessment of criminal responsibility.

Migration, Schizophrenia, and Crime: A Study From a Forensic Psychiatric Sample.

BackgroundThe association between mental health problems and crime in immigrants has attracted recent academic interest, with results suggesting that there were possible interactions between immigration, schizophrenia, and criminal behavior. However, very few studies have examined these interactions, especially in developing countries that have mass internal immigration. Therefore, this study sought to identify the associations between the sociodemographic, clinical, and criminal factors in migrants and non-migrants with schizophrenia who had been involved in criminal activities in China.MethodsForensic archives of suspects who had been referred for criminal responsibility assessments in the Sichuan West China Forensic Center from January 2015 to December 2019 were reviewed. The sociodemographic, and criminal activity information of the suspects were extracted, while the clinical and social function were measured by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and Social Disability Screening Schedule (SDSS) based on the archives. A Chi-squared test, a T-test, a Mann-Whitney U test, and Multinomial logistic regression were employed for the statistical analysis.ResultsA total of 552 patients were reviewed and evaluated, 17.2% (n = 95) of which were migrants. The migrant patient group was younger than the non-migrant patient group. The BPRS and SDSS scores for the migrant patient group were lower than for the non-migrant patient group. The migrant patient group had more work experience and more had been employed at the time of the crime than the non-migrant patient group. The unemployed migrant patients were more likely to commit a property-related crime.ConclusionsCompared to the non-migrant schizophrenia patient group, the migrant patient group had less severe psychiatric symptoms and less social function impairments. Employment was an important factor in preventing criminality in patients with schizophrenia, especially for migrant patients. Vocational rehabilitation focuses on developing appropriate employment that can significantly assist in schizophrenia patient recovery, which in turn could reduce their chances of committing crime. Besides, reducing other obstacles to stigma, housing and health insurance would also be beneficial to crime reduction.

The use and reporting practice of psychological tests in German risk and criminal responsibility expert reports

ABSTRACT Assessment reports about individuals charged/convicted of offenses have an influence on significant personal consequences for examinees by sentencing decisions regarding placement in a forensic hospital or prison. As there is evidence that unstructured clinical judgments have limited accuracy, research-based practice recommendations call for the use of standardised measures and for experts to base their assessments on empirically supported psychological tests. Previous findings on the actual use of psychometric tests indicate an increasing but still heterogeneous use of psychological tests, highlighting the continued relevance of a professional debate on best diagnostic practice. A potential shortcoming, however, is that these studies almost exclusively relied on clinicians’ self-reports. The present paper presents an analysis based on the actual (retrospectively assessed) usage in German risk (n = 489), criminal responsibility assessment reports (n = 272), and corresponding psychological test reports (n = 313) between 1990 and 2016. In accordance with previous survey data, results showed a frequent usage of a diverse range of psychological tests. Contrarily, performance-based personality tests, typically subsumed under so-called (semi-)projective personality tests, are still implemented regularly in forensic-clinical practice, although the number and frequency seem to be decreasing. Taken together, the findings gain an important insight into the psychological testing practive in forensic settings.

A firearm double homicide committed by a paranoid neigh- bor: a psychopathological study.

Serious mental illness is associated with a higher risk of violent interpersonal behavior. Characteristic traits denoting a psychopatho-logical picture such as schizophrenia, depression, a borderline, or narcissistic, antisocial, or paranoid personality disorder, are frequently observed in the personality of those who have committed one or more murders. For example, mass murderers are affected by a delusional syndrome with a persecution fixation, that develops in a subject with a paranoid, anacastic personality disorder. An abnormal mental frame-work develops as a consequence of continual experiences interpreted as traumatic. We present a complex case regarding a double murder whose vic-tims were shot by a 50-year-old neighbor, who underwent a psychiatric evaluation for the assessment of criminal responsibility. In the light of the historical reconstruction of his relation sensitive delusional mindset that triggered the final reaction, his life history, the "key event" and the "triggering environment" (constant conflictual and dysfunctional rela-tions with others) led to the violence. The correct understanding of the reported case demands investigation not only of the clinical, diagnostic and psychodiagnostic aspects, but also of the perpetrator-victim/s, their relational context and the situation where the crime evolves, in order to be able to reconstruct the event in a meaningful manner.

Forensic Psychiatry in the GDR: An overview

In the discussion of medical history of psychiatry in the GDR, little attention has been paid to the subfield of forensic psychiatry. In the following literature-based overview, essential aspects of this specific topic are therefore presented. The content-related discussion in this field took place in particular in the area of forensic psychiatric expertise in criminal law, to which, among others, the most well-known forensic psychiatrist of the GDR, Hans Szewczyk, made important contributions. After the introduction of the Criminal Code in 1968 and the accompanying legal changes regarding reduced or abolished criminal responsibility of delinquents, a discourse took place until the beginning of the 1980s on various questions on the improvement of the quality of expert opinions and further development of their work. The focus was on the assessment of criminal responsibility rather than on the assessment of prognosis, which probably resulted from the abolition of the "Maßregelvollzug" in 1968. Only a few sources refer to the placement and treatment of forensic psychiatric patients. Mentally ill offenders were hardly ever accommodated in specific departments, which were apparently established in a few clinics from the mid-1970s onwards. There was also a lack of specially developed structural treatment concepts specifically for forensic psychiatric patients. Especially for mentally ill lawbreakers with a high level of delinquency, inpatient placement was apparently hardly possible due to a new legislation after 1968. In the area of civil law, only a few sources indicate that the topics of incapacitation and guardianship were addressed.

The Influence of Occupational Group and Experience with Regard to the Criteria-Based Assessment of Culpability for Paraphilic Disorders - A Randomized Control Trial

This study examines whether occupation and level of experience have an impact on criteria-based assessment of criminal responsibility in paraphilic disorders. Two different sets of criteria were tested for predictive validity by three different professional groups (psychologists, psychiatrists and lawyers), each with different levels of prior experience. For this purpose, 349 raters evaluated the criteria of one of two criteria catalogs on the basis of one of two exemplary case vignettes. Group assignment was randomized. The variables degree of experience and professional affiliation did not show a connection with the prediction performance regarding the estimation of the severity of the disorder and the diminished capacity, respectively, with respect to either of the two sets of criteria. Using a criteria based approach, the methodology used in the present study (presentation of short case vignettes) did not reveal any significant influence of professional group and experience on the assessment in questions of criminal responsibility related to paraphilic disorders. The use of criteria catalogs may be able to contribute substantially to predictive performance relatively independent of relevant prior experience in the area of the assessment of criminal responsibility, but should not be considered the sole source of assessment.

Retrospective Evaluation of Cases Examined to Determine Criminal Responsibilities.

Introduction:Even though the assessment of criminal responsibility constitutes an important part of forensic psychiatry practices, it is observed that there is little published data in our country about these cases. In this study, it was aimed to examine the sociodemographic data, characteristics of the alleged crime, their diagnoses and the expert opinions on criminal responsibilities of the forensic cases referred to our hospital.Method:The medical files and medical board expert reports of 356 cases referred to our hospital by judicial authorities for evaluation of criminal liability, between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2017, were retrospectively examined. The sociodemographic data of the cases, psychiatric diagnoses made according to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria and the judicial expert decisions made about them were statistically analyzed.Results:It was reported that 22.2% of the cases (n=79) had no criminal responsibility related to their alleged crime, and 17.7% (n=63) of them had partial criminal responsibility. 47.8% of the cases with partial or no criminal responsibility were diagnosed with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders, and 30.2% of the cases had mental retardation. “Threat and insult”, “theft” or “ bodily harm” constituted 53.9% of the 471 criminal acts.Conclusion:Results of our study are consistent with the results of studies conducted in our country and abroad. Further descriptive studies are needed for a better understanding of the relationship between criminal behavior and mental health and for improving the punishment and the rehabilitation practices in this context.

Predictive Validity of Operationalized Criteria for the Assessment of Criminal Responsibility of Sexual Offenders With Paraphilic Disorders-A Randomized Control Trial With Mental Health and Legal Professionals.

The prevention of sexual violence is a major goal of sexual health. In cases of accused sexual offenders, the assessment of diminished criminal responsibility of the accused is one of the most important procedures undertaken by experts in the German legal system. This assessment follows a two-stage method assessing first the severity of a paraphilic disorder and then second criteria for or against diminished capacity. The present study examines the predictive validity of two different sets of criteria for the assessment of criminal responsibility in the context of paraphilic disorders combined with sexual offending. Two exemplary case vignettes of two suspected sexual offenders were developed to assess the criteria. For each participant, one of the two exemplary case vignettes was randomly presented. The presentation of the two different sets of criteria was also randomized, so that each participant was assigned only one of the two criteria sets to rate one of the presented cases. N = 349 participants from different professional backgrounds (mental health and legal professionals) completed their assessments and were included in the data analysis. The data were evaluated using logistic regression. Results show that the more recently published criteria set (Briken and Müller, 2014) predicts both the severity of the disorder as well as the diminished capacity twice as good as the older criteria set of Boetticher et al. (2005) currently used regularly for forensic court reports. In preliminary conclusion, the new criteria of Briken and Müller (2014) form an empirically based assessment of criminal responsibility. However, the proposed criteria cannot replace an extensive exploration of the accused person and a careful file analysis. Validity and reliability of the results are also limited due to the methodical choice of a vignette study.

Criminal Responsibility Scale: Development and Validation of a Psychometric Tool Structured in Clinical Vignettes for Criminal Responsibility Assessments in Brazil.

Criminal responsibility assessment is undertaken by psychologists or psychiatrists to assess offenders' legal capacities, which vary among countries or regional legislations. There are two psychometric tools (i.e., checklists) validated for criminal responsibility assessment: the Roger Criminal Responsibility Scale, and the rating scale of criminal responsibility for mentally disordered offenders. Despite the existence of psychometric tools structured in clinical vignettes for evaluating legal capacities, none serve the purpose of assessing criminal responsibility. This study aims to validate a novel psychometric tool structured in vignettes for the assessment of criminal responsibility called the “Criminal Responsibility Scale.” We applied the tool to 88 defendants referred for criminal responsibility assessment in a forensic medical institute in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from December 2017 to December 2018. The validity of the Criminal Responsibility Scale and subscales were evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis. The two-factor solution proved satisfactory and met the needs for practical application of the tool (Kaiser–Meyer–Oklin = 0.82; p < 0.001). Moreover, the inter-rater reliability was evaluated by comparing the tool's final score with that of the expert's conclusion in each case and was found to be satisfactory (k = 0.667–1.0), with a resulting cutoff point of 30.50 (±2) and a Youden index of 0.509. Hence, the Criminal Responsibility Scale is an effective psychometric tool for assessments of criminal responsibility that may encourage future research in assessments of legal capacity with clinical vignette-based psychometric instruments.

Neuroscience-based Psychiatric Assessments of Criminal Responsibility: Beyond Self-Report?

Many legal systems have an insanity defense, which means that although a person has committed a crime, she is not held criminally responsible for the act. A challenge with regard to these assessments is that forensic psychiatrists have to rely to a considerable extent on the defendant's self-report. Could neuroscience be a way to make these evaluations more objective? The current value of neuroimaging in insanity assessments will be examined. The author argues that neuroscience can be valuable for diagnosing neurological illnesses, rather than psychiatric disorders. Next, he discusses to what extent neurotechnological 'mind reading' techniques, if they would become available in the future, could be useful to get beyond self-report in forensic psychiatry.

Interrater reliability of the criteria-based assessment of criminal responsibility in paraphilic disorders

HintergrundFür die Beurteilung der Schuldfähigkeit bei Sexualdelinquenz ist die Einschätzung des Schweregrades einer paraphilen Störung und der Steuerungsfähigkeit von besonderer Bedeutung. Etablierte Beurteilungskriterien sind unzureichend operationalisiert.Ziel und MethodenVorhandene Kriterien sollen von Experten verschiedener Berufsgruppen hinsichtlich ihrer Reliabilität überprüft werden. Hierzu bewerteten 14 Experten die Kriterien zweier Kriterienkataloge anhand zweier Fallvignetten (siehe Electronic Supplementary Material).Ergebnisse und DiskussionDie Interrater-Reliabilität (IRR) bezogen auf die Kriterien von Briken und Müller [3, 4] war höher als die der bisher etablierten Kriterien von Boetticher et al. [2]. Die Auswertung der subjektiven Wichtigkeit der Kriterien beider Beurteilungsskalen zeigte, dass alle Kriterien als mindestens durchschnittlich ausschlaggebend bewertet wurden. Es kann daher zunächst sinnvoll sein, beide Kriterienkataloge für eine höhere Transparenz in den Beurteilungsprozess miteinzubeziehen und dieses Vorgehen in weiteren Studien zu untersuchen.Zusatzmaterial onlineDie Onlineversion dieses Beitrags (10.1007/s00115-020-00920-1) enthält weitere Infomaterialien. Beitrag und Zusatzmaterial stehen Ihnen auf www.springermedizin.de zur Verfügung. Bitte geben Sie dort den Beitragstitel in die Suche ein, das Zusatzmaterial finden Sie beim Beitrag unter „Ergänzende Inhalte“.

Obsessive compulsive disorder and obsessive compulsive personality disorder and the criminal law

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental illness that has penetrated public consciousness. However, the extent to which OCD and obsessive compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) can constitute debilitating conditions that adversely affect most aspects of a person’s functioning and quality of life are not so well known, including as to how they can impair the capacity to give reasoned consideration to conduct options and the consequences of choices. Little scholarship exists about the legal repercussions of OCD and OCPD and, in particular, their potential relevance for both assessments of criminal responsibility and criminal culpability. This article commences to redress that deficit, outlining contemporary clinical knowledge about the disorders that is relevant to the legal context and identifying important judgments by courts in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India which have dealt with the potential impact of OCD and OCPD, in particular for decisions at the sentencing phase of criminal proceedings. It calls for better awareness of OCD and OCPD on the part of forensic mental health practitioners, criminal law practitioners and members of the judiciary.

Criminal Responsibility among Murderer Presented to Forensic Committee in Al-Rashad Training Hospital/ Forensic Department, 2016-2017..

Background: The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is a defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for his or her actions due to an episodic or persistent psychiatric disease at the time of the criminal act. This is contrasted with an excuse of provocation, in which defendant is responsible, but the responsibility is lessened due to a temporary mental state. The aim of current study was to find out the results of criminal responsibility assessment for the murderers and related mental illness as well as to study a sociodemographic and personal criterion for murderers. Methods: The study was conducted in AL-Rashad Hospital, forensic department in Baghdad. It was a descriptive retrospective study. Case files of (70) murderers, examined by the forensic committee during the period from 1st, January 2016 till 31st, December 2017, were studied. Comprehensive data were collected and analyzed by the SPSS version 23. Results: The study showed that murderers were mainly young adults within age group (20-40) years that were married, illiterate/low educational level and had no job or unstable type of jobs. About 30% of victims were 1st degree relative and 30% of them were family in law. The main weapon was used in the murder was gun (45.7%) and knife (40%). According to murderers who presented to the committee, about 38.6% had no mental illness, 17.1% had personality disorder, 32.9% had psychotic disorders and 8.6% had neurotic disorders. The majority of murderers (52.9%) presented to committee were considered responsible, 8.6% had partial responsibility and 28.6% considered irresponsible. Conclusions: This study showed that about more than half of murderers presented had full criminal responsibility and insanity defenses were succeeded only in one third of the cases. The studied murders appeared to be obvious among young adult age groups, with no job or unstable financial resources, and illiterate or had low educational level. The victims were more likely to be from 1st degree relatives or family in-law. The available weapon (gun and knife) was mostly used.

Translating clinical findings to the legal norm: the Defendant\u2019s Insanity Assessment Support Scale (DIASS)

Insanity definition and the threshold for satisfying its legal criteria tend to vary depending on the jurisdictions. Yet, in Western countries, the legal standards for insanity often rely on the presence of cognitive and/or volitional impairment of the defendant at crime time. Despite some efforts having been made to guide and structure criminal responsibility evaluations, a valid instrument that could be useful to guide forensic psychiatrists’ criminal responsibility assessments in different jurisdictions is lacking. This is a gap that needs to be addressed, considering the significant forensic and procedural implications of psychiatric evaluations. In addition, differences in methodology used in insanity assessments may also have consequences for the principle of equal rights for all citizens before the law, which should be guaranteed in the European Union. We developed an instrument, the Defendant’s Insanity Assessment Support Scale (DIASS), which can be useful to support, structure, and guide the insanity assessment across different jurisdictions, in order to improve reliability and consistency of such evaluations.

Fitness to stand trial and criminal responsibility assessments: Advocating for changes to the Canadian criminal code.

Fitness to stand trial and criminal responsibility assessments: Advocating for changes to the Canadian criminal code.