National University of Singapore, Singapore; Department of Psychology, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore.
Int J Law Psychiatry. 2017 May-Jun;52:44-54. doi: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2017.03.005. Epub 2017 Apr 10.
Despite the increasing prevalence and involvement of mental health professionals in local courts, there has been no systematic study of the role played by these expert witnesses in Singapore courtrooms. An empirical study of all existing recorded cases on Lawnet (Singapore's legal database of all court trial cases) from 1975-2014 involving psychologists and psychiatrists was conducted. Results revealed that, not only were these mental health experts increasingly dotting the landscape of the legal arena, the variety of their contributions has also been gradually growing. Furthermore, there were marked differences across criminal, civil and custody cases with regards to the issues of how these experts were consulted and how their inputs utilized and appreciated by judges. Differences between psychology and psychiatry were also apparent. A future with more assistance rendered by these professions to courts, as well as greater synergy between law and mental health, was predicted for Singapore courts.
尽管心理健康专业人员在地方法院中的出现和参与越来越多，但在新加坡法庭上，这些专家证人所扮演的角色还没有得到系统的研究。对 Lawnet（新加坡所有法庭审判案件的法律数据库）上自 1975 年至 2014 年所有涉及心理学家和精神科医生的现有记录案例进行了实证研究。结果表明，这些心理健康专家不仅越来越多地出现在法律领域，他们的贡献种类也在逐渐增加。此外，在刑事、民事和监护案件中，在这些专家被咨询的方式以及法官如何利用和重视他们的意见方面，存在明显的差异。心理学和精神病学之间也存在差异。预测新加坡法庭将有更多的专业人士为法庭提供协助，法律和心理健康之间也将有更大的协同作用。
