Summary

It is estimated that every fifth person experiences mental health problems in any given year. However, in assessment of mental capacity for the purposes of penal law, legal effects are associated only with identification of mental disorders that were sufficiently severe for the person concerned not to realize at the time that their actions were illegal, or not be able to control their behavior in line with this realization, or have a significantly reduced capacity to do so due to the disorder.

Forensic psychiatric examination is used to identify a persons’ mental condition, their current or past mental disorders, the impact of those disorders on their understanding and behavior, as well as an assessment of potential for dangerous behavior due to disorder and a need for treatment. The ability of the body conducting proceedings to assess the mental condition of a suspect or an accused person and to draw the necessary legal conclusions based on this in criminal proceedings depends on the forensic psychiatric competence of the expert, the relevance and thoroughness of their examination, as well as the objectivity, rationale and traceability of their expert opinion for the body conducting proceedings.

The article provides an overview of the process of forensic psychiatric examination, the questions that can be answered by a forensic psychiatrist in criminal proceedings, and the role of an expert’s report on forensic psychiatric examination in criminal proceedings. The article only discusses forensic examinations in the context of criminal proceedings and does not cover specific aspects of examinations that can be performed in civil and administrative court proceedings. As the majority of forensic psychiatric examinations in criminal proceedings are conducted for assessment of mental capacity, i.e., examinations to determine the mental condition of a suspect or accused person, the focus of this article is on this type of forensic examinations.