Psychiatric court reports in Iceland 1970-1982

This paper looks closely at psychiatric court reports in criminal cases in Iceland. Psychiatric court reports are in the great majority of cases requested by the State Criminal Investigation Police (SCIP) on behalf of the court in major criminal cases (e.g. homicide, sexual offences, arson, physical assault). Reports are very rarely requested by the defence. During the 13-year period 1970-1982 there were 97 requests for psychiatric reports by the police/court (i.e. an annual rate of about 7.5 reports). About two-thirds of the defendants were found to have some psychiatric abnormality, although only a minority (8%) were considered criminally insane at the time of the offence. Psychiatric reports were most often requested to assess criminal responsibility, and, to a much lesser extent, sentencing issues. Psychiatric experts almost never have to present their evidence in person in court, nor are they cross-examined on their evidence. This paper discusses some of the strengths and limitations of psychiatric evidence in Iceland, and the need for an organized forensic service.