EXPERT ADVISOR IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS

Abstract

The new provisions of the criminal procedure legislation of the RS have brought certain changes and novelties about the role of psychiatrists in criminal proceedings. Namely, in addition to appearing in the status of a court expert, the current legal solutions also enable the direct involvement of psychiatrists in criminal proceedings in the capacity of an expert advisor.

In this way, preconditions have been created so that experts in the field of expertise can critically examine the expert's findings, which created preconditions for better professional control of expertise, confrontation of expert opinions, with the basic goal of providing the court with the most objective psychiatric truth in decision-making. judgments.

The aim of this paper is to present the legal and practical position of psychiatrists as professional advisors in criminal proceedings, advantages and disadvantages, both in the legal solution and in practical work in individual court proceedings. The paper will also present some examples that will illustrate certain obstacles facing psychiatric counselors, both in providing professional assistance to the party that hired them, and in the most objective view of existing psychiatric circumstances in specific court proceedings.

The paper contains the personal view of the author on the current codes in this area, as well as experiences from engaging in specific criminal proceedings, with the basic goal of creating better conditions for those who make legal decisions to better assess the facts in the field of psychiatry and pass objective and expertly reasoned judgments.