Expert Psychology In Disability Courts: What It Is And Areas Of Action
Within the different jurisdictions where forensic psychology can operate, disability is one of the main jurisdictions
Below we will discover how expert actions are carried out in these courts, what the purpose is and what are the main variables that must be taken into account in these cases to always act with the maximum professionalism possible.
Expert psychology in disability courts is one of the scenarios in which forensic psychology can be developed. In this case, The actions of the psychologist expert will be aimed at assessing the degree to which a person is capable of acting since if said capacity were greatly impaired, a judge could consider the need to withdraw the legal capacity, which would fall to a guardian, also assigned by the judge.
The ability to act can be broken down into four others, which are what make it up. First of all, to the person’s own self-government over himself. Also the ability to understand, that is, the intellectual capacity. The third would refer to the desire to perform actions, also called volitional capacity. The last of them would be the capacity for discernment, or judgment.
The work of expert psychology in disability courts is to study whether the subject has altered any or all of the capacities that we have listed, and to what degree That will be the majority of the work that will be reflected in the subsequent report that must be presented to the judge who requests it. But it is not the only task. You must also carry out a psychological evaluation of the different candidates for guardianship of the person who would be incapacitated.
What is a disability judicial process like?
These processes can be initiated in several ways. First of all, It may be the person themselves who requests that the disability be declared , for being aware of the progressive deterioration that he is suffering in his ability to act. But it can also be your partner, ascendants, descendants or siblings. But it may also be the case that other people or authorities bring the case to the attention of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, so that it can act ex officio, if it deems appropriate.
The disability claim will reach the corresponding court, which may be a specific disability court, if it exists in the province in question, or the court of first instance. This will be where the work of expert psychology in disability courts begins, since the judge will require the help of the psychologist to evaluate the issues that we have seen previously.
Of course, the person who is the subject of the hypothetical declaration of incapacity has all the procedural guarantees, starting with the right to appear before the judge and to have proper legal representation if he or she so wishes. The judicial process will begin, in fact, with the judge’s own examination of this person. Afterwards, the forensic medical team will prepare its expert report
Finally, all family members or other people who could qualify for legal representation of the affected person will be interviewed. They may have volunteered themselves, been proposed by the person themselves pending disability, or may even have been called by the court itself.
Once all the parts have been explored and as long as the judge finally has the forensic reports, including that provided by expert psychology in disability courts, he will be able to issue a sentence. The judge will decide whether or not the disability is granted, whether it is temporary or permanent, who will be the legal guardian from then on, and whether the individual’s confinement in an institution for his or her care is required.
In what cases does it operate? Intervention areas
We have already seen how a standard trial works in disability courts. Let’s now find out what they are the most common types of cases that judges and expert psychology professionals usually face in disability courts
1. Disability or changes in capacity
The majority of cases that come to these courts are requests for incapacity for people who, affected by a psychological illness that is limiting their ability to act in a manner that is persistent over time and therefore, as we saw at the beginning, , cannot govern himself.
Obviously, not all cases are the same, since disability can occur gradually. That’s why, In addition to the figure of guardianship, there is also that of conservatorship Guardianship would correspond to the person in charge of caring for an individual who is totally incapable.
However, if the subject is only incapable to a certain degree and therefore requires the assistance of a person for some specific issues, the judge will most likely choose to assign a conservatorship.
2. Cases of prodigality
Prodigality is a special case of those treated in expert psychology in disability courts. Make reference to individuals who, for different reasons, waste their assets compulsively and without any type of limit , putting their economic situation and that of their dependents at risk. This condition can occur, for example, in people with gambling addiction.
In these cases, the judge may declare a partial disability and assign guardianship to a family member to be in charge of managing the assets of the person in question.
3. Parental authority
Another situation that is also taken into account in disability courts is parental authority, referring to parents of people who are declared incapable. If they are minors, when they reach the age of majority, parental authority will be extended, so the parents will continue to be their legal guardians
In the case of children of legal age, but single and living with their parents, if it were the case that they were declared incapable, parental authority would also be reestablished (which had ended upon reaching the age of majority) and therefore they would be supervised by parents.
4. Capacity recovery
But not all the cases that are worked on in expert psychology in disability courts are aimed at studying whether a person, until now capable, should be declared incapable. The opposite can also happen and question whether the disability that had been assigned to a certain individual still makes sense or, on the contrary, it must be revoked and its legal capacity restored.
It may occur in cases of illnesses with certain psychological illnesses that, thanks to treatment, have subsided or are reasonably controlled so that the subject has been able to recover his or her ability to act and therefore has requested the judge to end his or her incapacity situation. . Likewise, it will be evaluated by the court’s forensic team so that the judge has all the necessary information and thus issues a sentence.
5. Change of tutor
It may also be the case that the expert psychology team in disability courts is called to evaluate a possible change of guardian. It may happen that the guardian himself has requested it, either because he is not in a position to continue exercising that responsibility or for any other reason. It may also be that another person has requested it, considering that the tutor is not carrying out her role as he should.
Even It may be the authorities themselves who reopen the case upon verifying that guardianship is not being exercised as the law dictates and therefore the incapable person requires another person to be responsible for them.
6. Precautionary measures
They can also occur emergency situations that require rapid incapacitation of a person, for example, involuntary commitment to a psychiatric institution Judicial authorization should always come first in such a scenario, but if the situation is of such urgency that it could not be requested before, the person in charge of the center must notify the court within 24 hours of the admission.
Likewise, the measure must be ratified by the court within 72 hours of receiving the request. Furthermore, the process must always be carried out by the judicial authority of the province where the center in which the person has been admitted is located, regardless of whether said subject habitually resides elsewhere.
These would be the main cases that expert psychology professionals would face in disability courts.
