St

udySessi
on5:For
ensi
cLegalOper
ati
onsi
nCi
vi
lLaw

I
ntr
oduct
ion
Civi
lLaw isdefinedast hebodyofl egaldecisi
ons,inCommonLaw count ri
es,orrul
esand
regul
ati
onsi nthosecount r
iest hatfoll
ow Romano- Germani csystemsoflaw t
hatgovernthe
rel
ati
onship among indi
viduals.Or di
naril
y,breachesoft hoser ulesbyoneperson agai
nst
anothercauseconfl
ict
sthatoft enendupi ncour t
sforadjudicat
ion.

I
nthisst
udysessi
on,
youar
egoi
ngt
obei
ntr
oducedt
oci
vi
ll
awsandi
tsr
elat
ionshi
ptof
orensi
c
psy
chiat
ry.

5.
1Lear
ningOut
comes
Wheny
ouhav
ecompl
etedt
hisst
udysessi
on,
youshoul
dbeabl
eto

5.
1 Di
ff
erent
iat
ebet
weencapaci
tyandcompet
ency

5.
2Expl
aint
heRel
ati
onshi
pbet
weenFor
ensi
cPsy
chi
atr
yandci
vi
ll
aw

5.
1Bet
weenCapaci
tyandCompet
ency
Psychiat
rist
sandot hermentalhealthspeciali
stsareregularl
yrequir
edt oconductassessment s
withav i
ew todet ermi
nethepr esenceofment aloremot i
onalprobl
emsi noneoft hepar t
ies.
Howev er,
mostissuesar i
singoutofCi vil
Lawt hatrequirementalhealt
hassessment spert
aint o
theindiv
idualhav i
nglosttheabi l
i
tyt omanagepar t
icularsit
uati
onsort odischargepart
icular
functi
ons.Atpl ayar etwomaj orconcept s,capacityandcompet ence.Althoughthereisa
tendencytouset hesetwoconcept sinter
changeably,theyarenotthesame.

Ingener al,capacit
yr efersspecif
icall
yt ot hepresenceofphy si
cal,emot i
onalandcogniti
ve
abil
it
iesnecessar ytomakedeci si
onsort oengagei nacour seofact ion.Competency,onthe
otherhand,r efer
smor especifi
call
yt othel egalconsequencesofnothav i
ngcapacity
.Inthese
defi
niti
ons," capaci
ty"isamedi calf unct i
onwher eas"compet ency"isal egaldeci
sion;whil
e
capacityreferstosy mpt omsaffecti
ngt heindiv
idual
,compet encyr ef
erstot heimpactthose
sympt omsmayhav eonl egalandsoci alstandi
ng.

Capacit
yhasal sobeendef
inedast heabi
li
tytomakeani nf
ormedchoicewithr
espectt
oa
speci
fi
cdeci
sion,andcompetenceastheabi
li
tytopr
ocessandunder
standinf
ormati
onandto
make wel l
-ci
rcumscribed deci
sions based on thatunder standi
ng.As i s obvi
ous,these
defi
nit
ionsascribetobot hconceptsal egaldeter
minism togetherwit
hexpectedteleol
ogical
consequences.What everthedef i
nit
ion,however,intheend,adet erminat
ionofincapacity
l
eadingt oaf indi
ngofi ncompet encebecomesamat terofsoci alcontr
olthatisusedt o
l
egit
imizetheapplicat
ionofsoci
al str
ict
urestoanindi
vi
dual.

Assessment sofcapaci tyandcompet encear eneededi nmul ti

plesit
uat i
onst hatrangef r
om
caseswhenpsy chiatri
cassessment sar er equiredi nordertospecifythei mpactandemot i
onal
effectsofinjur
iesonat hi
rdpartyinvolvedi namot orvehicl
eaccidenttocapaci tytowr i
teawi l
l
ort oenterintocont racts.Thesedetermi nationscoul dalsoapplytopsy chologicalautopsiesin
ordert o assess t est amentar
ycapaci tyon sui cidalcases orcases ofsudden deat h,or
evaluati
onsf orf i
tnessandi ncapacityt owor kand,ofl ateinmanycount ries,evaluati
onst o
determineaccesst obenef it
scont empl atedi ndi sabil
it
yinsurance.Inmostoft hesesi t
uat i
ons
theissueathandi sadet erminati
onofcapaci t
yandcompet encetoper form somef unction,or
theev al
uationofaut onomousdeci sionmaki ngbyment al
lyil
lpersons,i mpairedper sonsor
thosewhohav esuf feredbraindamageorar eaf fectedbydement i
a.

TheUni tedNat i
onsDecl arat
iononHumanRi ghts,Par agraph6,st atest hatev eryonehast he
ri
ghttor ecogniti
oneverywher easaper sonbeforethel aw.Howev er
, havinginherentlegalr
ights
i
snott hesameashav inglegalcapacitytobenef i
tf rom them,si ncet hiscapaci tymaybe
compr omi sedamongper sonssuf f
eri
ngf rom ment aldisorders.Givent hei mpor t
anceofbei ng
ableandal l
owedt oexerciseone’sri
ghtsasanasser ti
onofper sonalaut onomy ,anyabrogation
oft hatpowergener al
l
yr equi
res a judici
aldeci si
on.Hence,i n mosti nstances (medical
tr
eatmentset t
ingssomet imesconst i
tuti
nganexcept i
on)amedi caldeci sionthataper sonhas
l
ostcapaci tyentersint
oef f
ectonlyaf teral egaldet erminati
onofi ncompet encehasbeen
compl et
ed.

Thereisalway sapresumpt ionofcapaci t

y;apersoni sassumedt obecapabl eandcompet ent
tomakedeci si
onsunl esspr ovenot her
wise.Decisionmaki ngcapacityrequir
esanabi li
tyto
underst
and,toappreciate,andt oreasonaboutther elev
antinfor
mati
onorsi tuati
onconfronti
ng
theperson,tomakeani nformedchoi ceandtobeabl etocommuni cateit.Cl
ini
ciansrel
yon
thei
rcli
nical
knowledge, theirj
udgmentandonspeci alscal
est omaketheseassessment s.

Howev er,
thepr esenceofamaj orment alorphy si
calcondi ti
ondoesnoti nandofi t
selfproduce
i
ncapacityingener alorf orspeci ficfunct i
ons.Ev eni nt hepresenceofacondi ti
ont hatmay
aff
ectcapaci ty,aper sonmayst il
lbecompet enttocar r
youtsomef unctions,notj
ustbecause
capacit
yf l
uct uatesf rom timet ot i
me,butal sobecausecompet encei snotanal lornone
concept.Compet encei stiedtot hespeci fi
cdeci sionorf uncti
ont obeaccompl i
shed.For
example,ast rokemayr enderaper soni ncapacitatedtodr iveamot orv ehicl
eand,t herefore,
i
ncompet entt odr ive,buttheper soncoul dst i
llhav ethecapaci tytoent erintocontr
act sort o
manageper sonalf i
nancialaff
airs.Wi t
ht imeandpr operrehabili
tati
on,theper sonmightbeabl e
toregaincapaci tytodr i
ve.Givent hati ncapacit
yi sof t
ent ime-l
imited,fi
ndingsofincompet ence
shouldber eviewedatappr opr
iatei ntervals.

Al
though t
hesubj
ect
sofcapaci
tyev
aluat
ionsshoul
d bei
nfor
med oft
hepur
poseoft
he
assessment
,consenti snott y
pical
lyrequi
redforanev aluati
ontobecompl eted.Capacit
y
assessment
sareprotractedandtaketimesoitisadvisabl
et ouseascr eeni
ngtestofcapacit
y
andt odoaf ul
lassessmentonl yifthepersonfail
st hescreeningtest.Thi
swi l
lreducethe
burdenonbotht
hesubj ectoft
heassessmentandt heev al
uatori
fthescreeni
ngtestispassed.

Asi sthecaseincr i
mi nall aw,i
ncivill
awwhati si
mpor tantisnotj
ustadi agnosis—whichhere
maynotev enber equiredasat hr
esholddeterminat
ion—butt heincapacit
ytoexecut esome
funct i
onscausedbyt hesy mpt
omsoft hemedicalconditi
on.Forexampl e,personssuf f
eri
ng
from aser i
ousbi pol
ardi sordermaydur ingthemanicbehav i
ourenterintodubiousbusiness
deal sorspendf ooli
shl yt hepersonalort hefamil
yfortunes.Undert hesecircumstancesthe
per soncouldbedecl aredi ncompetenttomakef i
nancialdecisi
onsunt i
lthemani csympt oms
arebr oughtundercont rol.Nott otaket hi
sstepmayl eavethemedi calpracti
ti
oneropent o
l
itigati
onfornegl
igence.

Thelegaltest
sforcompetencyar
eusual
l
ydef
inedinbroadst
atut
oryphrasesthatar
e,att
imes,
di
ff
iculttooperati
onal
i
ze.Whenconducti
ngi
ncapaci
tyeval
uati
ons,cl
ini
ciansshoul
dexamine
whetherthepati
ent:

a)Under
standswhatt
hepr
obl
em i
s

b)Knowswhatt
hemat
ter
sunderpot
ent
ial
li
ti
gat
ionar
eandwhy

c)Knowsthefactsinr
elat
iont
omat
ter
sbei
ngquest
ioned(
whet
herf
inanci
al,cust
odyof
chi
l
dren,
heal
th,
etc.
)

(
d)I
sabl
etopr
ocessi
nfor
mat
ioni
naf
act
ual
andr
ati
onal
way
,and

e)Canf
unct
ioni
nhi
sorherr
egul
arenv
ironment
.

Cli
nici
ansshoul d,then,assesst hedemandsoft heenvi
ronmentont heper
son,t
headequacyof
thesour cesofinformat i
on,andwhet hermor eexaminationsortestsarerequi
red.Thegi stof
theevaluati
onisnotonl ytodet erminethepresenceofincapacity,butal
sotoevaluatehowbest
thepersoncoul dcopeundert heci r
cumstances,whatai deswoul dber equi
redt ohelpt he
personcopebet ter,andhow bestt opr ot
ecttheinterestandr i
ghtsoftheper son.Assuch,
competencyev aluationstaxthecl i
nicalknowledgeoftheexper taswellashisethicalquali
ti
es
andhisknowl edgeoft hesy st
emsandr esourcesavail
ableinthecommuni t
y.

Adet er
minat
ionofi ncapacity(
amedicalfunct
ion)t
hatcoul
dleadtoaf i
ndingofi
ncompet
ence
(alegaldeci
sion)l egi
ti
mi zestherestr
ict
ionont heperson’
spower stomakeaut onomous
decisi
ons.Givent heser i
ousconsequencesofadeci si
onofi ncompetenceonaper son’s
autonomy,cl
inici
anshav eanet hi
caldutytobasethei
rdecisi
onsont hebestavai
l
ablecl
ini
cal
evi
dence.

I
nTextQuest
ion
Di
ff
erent
iat
ebet
weencapaci
tyandcompet
ency

I
nTextAnswer

Capacit
yr efer
sspecif
ical
lytothe presence ofphysical
,emot i
onaland cogni
ti
ve abil
i
ties
necessarytomakedecisi
onsortoengageinacourseofaction.Competency,
ontheotherhand,
ref
ersmor especi
fi
cal
l
yt othel
egalconsequencesofnothavingcapaci
ty.

5.
2Ci
vi
lLawandFor
ensi
cPsy
chi
atr
y
This br
anch off orensi
c psy chi
atryinvol
ves psychiat
ri
c malpracti
ce;psy chiatri
c di
sabil
it
y
deter
minati
ons;personali
njuryevaluati
ons;t
estamentarycapaci
tyandguar dianship;andfamil
y
l
awmat ter
s,incl
udingparentalcompet enceandchildcustodyevaluat
ions.Includedhereisthe
speci
alt
yofthechildandadolescentf or
ensicpsychi
atr
ist.

Thesei ndivi
dualsmustcombi net heski l
lsoft wopsy chiat
ricsubspeci al
ti
es,namel y ,childand
adolescentpsy chiat
r y,and forensic psy chiatr
y .In some uni versit
y divisions off orensi
c
psychiatr
yt heseskillsar eavail
ablet hroughaf amil
ycour tclini
c.Thi sclinicwoul dr eceiv
e
consultat
ionsfrom thef amil
ycour tsystem t oev al
uateparentalcompet encei nchildabuseand
neglectcasesandal soassistindet er
mi ningt hebestinterestsofthechi ldi ndivorcecust ody
cases.Fami lycourtclini
cshav ealsot radit
ionallyprovi
dedev aluati
onofy oungof fender s.The
eval
uat i
onofy oungof fender
s,princi
pallyadol escents,r
equirestheclini
calski l
lsandexper i
ence
necessaryforev al
uatingchil
drenandadol escents.

Theimport
anceoft
hesedualskil
l
scannotbeunderest
imatedandatti
meshascall
edf orthe
r
ecogni
ti
onofasub-
subspeci
alt
yofchi
l
dandadolescentf
orensi
cpsychi
atr
yinsomecountri
es.

Test
amentarycapaci
tymaybear el
ati
velysmallcomponentofforensicpsychiat
ry,butt
hereis
no doubtas toi t
s compl
exit
y and the specialski
ll
s necessaryf orthese retr
ospect
ive
eval
uati
onsandbeingabl
etocommunicatetheev al
uati
ontothelegalauthor
it
ies.

I
nTextQuest
ion

Whatar
ethemai
ncomponent
sofci
vi
ll
awasi
taf
fect
sfor
ensi
cpsychi
atr
y?

I
nTextAnswer

Psychi
atr
icmal
pract
ice;
psychi
atr
icdi
sabi
l
itydet
ermi
nat
ions;
per
sonal
i
njur
yeval
uat
ions;
test
ament
arycapaci
tyandguar
dianshi
p;
Summar
yforSt
udySessi
on5

I
nSt
udySessi
on5,
youhav
elear
ntt
hat
Psychiat
ri
stsandothermentalhealt
hspeci
ali
stsareregular
lyr
equi
redt
oconduct
assessments wi
thav i
ew to determi
ne t
he presence ofmentaloremoti
onal
probl
emsi noneoft
heparti
es.
:capaci
tyrefer
sspecif
ical
l
yt othepr esenceofphy si
cal
,emot i
onalandcogni ti
ve
abi
li
ti
es necessaryto make decisions ort o engage in a course ofact i
on.
Competency,ontheot
herhand,r
efersmor especi
fi
call
ytothelegalconsequencesof
nothavi
ngcapacity
.
apersonisassumedtobecapabl eandcompetenttomakedecisi
onsunlessproven
other
wise.Deci
si
onmaki ngcapacit
yrequi
resanabil
it
ytounder
stand,t
oappreciate,
andtoreasonaboutther el
evanti
nfor
mati
onorsituati
onconf
ronti
ngtheperson,to
makeani nf
ormedchoiceandt obeabl
etocommuni cat
eit
.
TheUni
tedNationsDeclarat
iononHumanRights,Par
agraph6,st
atest
hatev
ery
one
hast
herightt
or ecogni
ti
onev er
ywher
easapersonbefor
ethelaw.

Fami
l
y cour
tcl
i
nics hav
e al
so t
radi
ti
onal
l
y pr
ovi
ded ev
aluat
ion of y
oung

of
fender
s.Theev
aluat
ionofy
oungof
fender
s,pr
inci
pal
l
yadol
escent
s,r
equi
res

t
he cl
i
nicalski
l
ls and exper
ience necessar
yfor ev
aluat
ing chi
l
dren and

adol
escent
s.
Sel
f-
AssessmentQuest
ions(
SAQs)f
orSt
udySessi
on5

Nowt hatyouhavecompletedt
hisstudysessi
on,youcanassesshowwell
youhaveachi
eved
i
tsLearningOutcomesbyansweringthesequest
ions.Youcanchecky
ouranswer
switht
he
NotesonSelf-AssessmentQuest
ionsattheendoft hi
sModule.

SAQ5.
1(Test
sLear
ningOut
come5.
1)

1.Capaci
tyandCompet
encyar
eusedi
nter
changeabl
ybutar
enott
hesame
,
Discusswi
thr
elev
anti
l
lust
rat
ions.

SAQ5.
2(Test
sLear
ningOut
come5.
2)

2.Whatr
elat
ionshi
pexi
stsbet
weenf
orensi
cpsy
chi
atr
yandci
vi
ll
aw.