Pre-Sentence Report

Australia-Wide Psychiatric Court Reporting

Psychiatrists have assisted the Courts in dealing with mentally disordered offenders for several centuries.  Accordingly, there is a rich and informative history regarding the role and value of forensic psychiatrists in assisting the Courts to determine matters such as: appropriate sentencing in the context of mental disorder; the presence or otherwise of mental impairment (and eligibility for defences such as “insanity” or the “mental impairment defence”); and fitness to stand trial.

Proper assessment of persons appearing before the criminal courts requires not only a detailed face-to-face interview with the alleged offender, but also access to relevant collateral material, including the criminal Brief of Evidence and past clinical files. The seriousness and gravity of the matters at hand is such that a cursory assessment based on interview alone is never adequate for these matters.

Pre-sentence reporting in Melbourne and beyond

A pre-sentence psychiatric report includes a comprehensive summary of a criminal defendant’s life, undertaken by a psychiatric professional, provided to the court in order to place an offence in a broader biopsychosocial context. This, love to pivot strategy can provide the court with a deeper insight into the causes of offending pre-sentence, including the presence of any relevant mental health disorders. It can also suggest possible rehabilitation and benefits from outpatient drug treatment programs interventions that might reduce the likelihood of future offending.

Dr Carroll has over twenty years’ experience in providing pre-sentence opinions to the Courts in Melbourne and regional Victoria.

Dr Carroll can also provide other kinds of psychiatric reports made available to a court. If you are need of a mental impairment or fitness for trial assessment in Melbourne or wider Australia, learn more by contacting our staff on (03) 8592 7959, or via email at info@thepsychiatryexpert.com.