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    Vulnerable patients going to court: a psychiatrist's guide to special measures

    Cooper, Penelope and Grace, J. (2016) Vulnerable patients going to court: a psychiatrist's guide to special measures. BJPsych Bulletin 40 (4), pp. 220-222. ISSN 2056-4694.

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    Abstract

    There have been significant changes to how vulnerable people are treated in the court system, including the introduction of special measures to support people both as witness and as accused. This paper summarises the use of special measures and their application to people with mental health diagnoses or cognitive impairment. It is not uncommon for psychiatric patients to be involved in court proceedings and as many psychiatrists know (some from first-hand experience) going to court can be a stressful event. In addition, mental illness, neurocognitive impairment or developmental disorder can create a barrier to access to giving evidence or to being able to take part in a trial. In recognition of this, major changes in the judicial approach have been made, including the use of ‘special measures’ for certain witnesses. This article summarises the latest judicial approaches and considers their clinical applications.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences
    Research Centres and Institutes: Crime & Justice Policy Research, Institute for
    Depositing User: Administrator
    Date Deposited: 10 Nov 2016 10:18
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 17:26
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/16005

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