Study On The Start-Up System Of Psychiatric Evaluation In The Criminal Justice System

Judicial psychiatric evaluation, is also known as "judicial evaluation of mental illness "or "forensic psychiatric appraisal". Article 120 of Criminal Procedure Law in our country refers it as "medical assessment of mental illness" and it has some special properties which are different from other judicial evaluations. Criminal judicial psychiatric evaluation plays an important role in finding out the truth, protecting human rights, procedural justice and the efficiency of lawsuits. The start-up process is the pivotal process of the whole evaluation, because it determines that whether the following processes are reasonable and perfect or not. However, the start-up process in our country has many defects both in legislation and practice, it should be reformed. This article discusses the start-up system of psychiatric evaluation in the perspective of criminal justice system.This article first analyzes the concept of criminal judicial psychiatric evaluation from the levels of judicial psychiatric evaluation and the start-up system. Then this article analyzes the theoretical foundation of the start-up system of criminal judicial psychiatric evaluation and the significances of criminal judicial psychiatric evaluation and the pivotal start-up process. Then, the article observes the legislation and practice in common law and civil law system, compares their strengths and weaknesses, assesses individual provision and sums up their experiences and lessons in order to find what we can learn from them based on our national conditions.On the basis of above discussion, this article turns to research the start-up system of criminal judicial psychiatric evaluation of our country. On the basis of introducing the current legislation about the start-up system of criminal judicial psychiatric evaluation, the article analyzes its defects with practice and clarifies the plight of reformation. Finally, this article puts forward the ideas in reforming the start-up process of criminal judicial psychiatric evaluation. The ideas not only include the ideas about the start-up system but also the matching system with a view to make a useful thinking for the perfect of criminal judicial psychiatric evaluation in our country and the building of a socialist country under the rule of law.