[Duties and liabilities for psychiatrists]

Abstract

This paper evaluates forensic duties and liabilities for psychiatrists, based on the current literature and based on our experience over several years of forensic medicine practice, involving both criminal and civil cases. We evaluated different scenarios, including cases of patients dangerous to themselves or others. We highlighted the importance to keep adequate and detailed clinical records, both in the inpatient and outpatient setting, given the absence of other objective items (e.g., laboratory records or other instrumental assessments) that may be of help for the judge and his/her counselors.