The Grange Masterclass

The Grange Masterclass: Medico-legal Concepts in Forensic Psychiatry

Tuesday 7 February 2023

This course aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to the medico-legal concepts which are essential in producing expert psychiatric evidence in criminal cases.

Concepts of fitness to plead, insanity and diminished responsibility and the sentencing of mentally disorder offenders will be explored with particular emphasis on recent case law as applied to clinical vignettes.

Delegates will be taught essential skills in applying medico-legal concepts to psychopathology which will improve their knowledge and understanding of the relevance of psychiatric evidence to the criminal justice system and improve their ability to give expert psychiatric evidence.

Learning objectives

At the end of this masterclass you will understand:

1. The medico-legal concept of fitness to plead, how the Pritchard criteria have been interpreted and the legal implications of a finding of unfitness

2. The medico-legal concept of insanity, how the M’Naghten rules have been interpreted and the legal implications of a finding of insanity

3. The medico-legal concept of diminished responsibility, how the statutory criteria have been interpreted and the legal implications of a finding of diminished responsibility

4. The making of medical recommendations for sentencing, the relevance of recent case law including R v Vowles and R v Edwards, the difficulties for psychiatrists and the legal implications for mentally disordered offenders.

About the Expert Trainers

Dr Nick Hallett is a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist at Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust on an inpatient medium-secure rehabilitation ward. He has published a number of articles on medico-legal issues and has provided expert psychiatric evidence in criminal cases on numerous occasions. He has a BSc in Bioethics form the University of Bristol and an LLM (Dist) in Mental Health Law from the University of Northumbria. He teaches regularly on the Maudsley Training Programme in London.

Professor Keith Rix is a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist and former visiting Consultant Psychiatrist at HM Prison, Leeds. He established the Leeds Magistrates’ Court Mental Health Assessment and Diversion Scheme and the city’s forensic psychiatry service. He has provided expert evidence to the courts for over 35 years, including evidence on a pro bono basis in capital cases in the Caribbean and Africa, and he is the author of Expert Psychiatric Evidence (second edition due for publication in 2020) and lead author of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ report Responsibilities of psychiatrist who provide experts opinion to courts and tribunals. He is now a visiting Professor of Medical Jurisprudence, School of Medicine, University of Chester, and Honorary Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist in the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.

More Information

Upcoming Courses

No Events

How to Book

Tuesday 7 February 2023

If you don’t wish to book online or have managed to secure funding… Simply print out our booking form with your chosen method of payment and either:

Post to:
Education and Training Network
Design House
1 Coal Hill Lane
Leeds
LS28 5NA
or
Please call us on 0113 257 2139 and a member of the team can take your booking over the telephone.