WHAT - CRITERIA FOR CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY

Criminal responsibility is established on the basis of intent and the usual absence or psychiatric symptomatology. Crime constitutes a choice of actions in response to stress and may be directed by clear-cut motives. For the empirical assessment of criminal responsibility the offender should initially be considered responsible for his or her criminal deeds until all relevant psychiatric facts prove otherwise. A clinical instrument that has been used by the author for this purpose is described in this paper.