The expert witness in forensic psychiatry

Forensic psychiatry operates at the interface of the Justice and Health systems and has been defined as: “That branch of psychiatry which requires special knowledge and training in the law as it relates to the mental state of the offender, or alleged offender ” [l]. As a consequence of working in this area, psychiatrists are often called into court to give evidence as “expert witnesses”. This article examines some of the professional and legal issues involved in providing expert testimony. Secondly, it aims to outline some practical guidelines for giving evidence in the court-room. The predominant focus is on criminal, rather than civil, proceedings in which the forensic psychiatrist gives expert testimony; however much of the information is also relevant to other psychiatrists and psychologists undertaking this role in the legal arena. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 1992; 26:624-630 For several centuries the courts have been accus-tomed to act on the opinion of experts. Bartholomew [2] notes that in England, as far back as 1553, Judge Saunders stated: “If matters arise in our law which concern other sciences or faculties we commonly apply for the aid of that science or faculty which it concerns. ” The founding legal judgement is attributed to Lord Mansfield in Folkes v. Chadd (1782): “The opinion of scientific men upon proven facts may be given by men of science within their own science”[3]. The first appearance of psychiatrists as expert wit-nesses within the English legal system was at the end of the 18th Century [2]. Similarly, in the America