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Scope and limits of psychiatric evidence in international criminal law

Scope and limits of psychiatric evidence in international criminal law

Radosavljevic, Dragana (2013) Scope and limits of psychiatric evidence in international criminal law. International Criminal Law Review, 13 (5). pp. 1013-1035. ISSN 1567-536X (Print), 1571-8123 (Online) (doi:https://doi.org/10.1163/15718123-01305011)

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Abstract

This article examines the role of the mental health sector evidence in international crimes prosecutions. Specifically, recent trials are examined with a view to assess the scope and limits of psychiatric evidence in relation to war crimes defences. Scrutinizing fully the origins and triggers of individual criminal responsibility, serves the interests of justice and enhances trial rights. This study also tries to illustrate the undesirable but extensive use of hearsay evidence in international criminal courts and the ways in which psychiatric evidence is used frequently to validate inconsistent testimonies and hearsay accounts of presumed victims and witnesses but not to enable defendants to form defences. The article concludes that defence trial rights would be better protected if relevant legal lacunae and ambiguities regarding the admissibility of psychiatric evidence are clarified and if the amount of such evidence required to satisfy certain defences, such as duress, is quantified with greater specificity.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: psychiatric evidence, war crimes, burden of proof, fairness
Subjects: K Law > KZ Law of Nations
R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA1001 Forensic Medicine. Medical jurisprudence. Legal medicine
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group: Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Related URLs:
Last Modified: 20 Sep 2019 15:23
URI: http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/6491

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