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Objectives: This paper describes the main areas of civil forensic psychiatry (FP) and the skills required by psychiatric experts. Some specific areas of civil FP are discussed, including tort law reform, reliability of psychiatric evidence, contentious psychiatric disorders, and the many domains of civil FP., Conclusions: Civil FP is an important sub-specialty component of forensic psychiatry that requires greater emphasis in the training and continuing education of psychiatrists. A process of accrediting psychiatrists as having competency in advanced civil FP may be of value.

Objectives: Scholarly projects (SPs) are a compulsory component of psychiatry training in Australasia. This article outlines the role of a research supervisor in supporting a trainee to complete an SP., Methods: A total of 10 old age and forensic psychiatry SPs were reviewed with regard to aims, methodology, supervisor input, trainee tasks and additional resources., Results: The main supervisor tasks are described and discussed. They include practical advice on study design, ethics applications, critical appraisal, data analysis, academic writing and publication., Conclusions: Supervising SPs can bring significant rewards in awakening a trainee's interest in research. Key competencies for research supervision are discussed and further recommendations for supervisor support and training are provided.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a day visit in changing attitudes towards a high-security forensic psychiatric hospital, with regard to the current recruitment difficulties in psychiatry., Methods: Broadmoor Hospital, a UK high-security psychiatric hospital, runs day visits for medical students, led by doctors. At the beginning and the end of the day students wrote their responses to the question, 'What do you think of Broadmoor?' Attitudes and themes were identified, and their prevalence was analysed., Results: The responses of 296 students were initially analysed; however, 19 responses had to be excluded because they were illegible or incomplete. Before the visit, 15 responses were rated as positive, 169 neutral and 93 negative. After the visit, 205 responses were positive, 69 neutral and three negative. The themes that changed markedly following the visit were those indicating a change to favourable attitude., Conclusions: A single day visit was shown to be effective in altering the attitudes of medical students towards forensic psychiatry within a high-security psychiatric hospital., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Objectives: We aimed to examine the experiences of advanced trainees in forensic psychiatry as they practise testifying as expert witnesses in a mock court setting., Methods: Five advanced trainees (including the first author) submitted court-ordered forensic reports in advance of attending the mock court. Senior colleagues had roles of Judge, prosecution and defence lawyers. House officers and medical students were summoned as jury. Over a year, each trainee had the experience of direct and cross-examination by opposing legal teams. Following the mock trial, each participant was given immediate feedback and subsequently asked to complete a semi-structured questionnaire., Results: The experience of participating in a mock court has learning value for advanced trainees specialising in forensic psychiatry in anticipation of giving evidence in a court of law. Constructive feedback enabled attendees to gain valuable education in a supportive setting. Of particular value was guidance in the use of technical language in presenting evidence in a court setting, knowledge of the breadth of questions that could be put forth to an expert witness, desensitisation training in an adversarial albeit simulated setting, and acquiring skills in staying calm under pressure., Conclusions: The importance of a well-written report, good preparation and anxiety management were significant learning points., (© The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.)

We aimed to survey the knowledge of psychiatrists on the assessment of decision-making capacity. Ninety-two psychiatrists of all grades and three other doctors attending a regional conference were marked on their verbal response to the question 'What are the key elements in the assessment of a patient's capacity?' On average, participants mentioned three out of the five elements in testing decision-making capacity. Scores were negatively correlated with age (Pearson's coefficient 0.275, sig 0.007). Section 12 status and grade had no impact on knowledge. Most psychiatrists of all grades have a reasonable knowledge of assessing decision-making capacity. Over a third of participants mentioned two or fewer of the five points, suggesting inadequate knowledge. Assessing decision-making capacity needs to be emphasised in training throughout psychiatrists' careers--not just at the start.

Objective: To systematically survey Alberta psychiatrists and lawyers regarding their knowledge of, attitudes toward, and experiences with the Criminal Code provisions regarding mentally disordered offenders to better understand the lack of impact in practice patterns., Method: A survey design was used, and 2 questionnaires, 1 for lawyers and 1 for psychiatrists, were developed and mailed out., Results: Out of 245 surveys sent to psychiatrists, 141 were returned, giving a response rate of 57%. The number of lawyers practising criminal law could not be determined, and 5273 surveys were sent to all lawyers on the Law Society of Alberta mailing list. Of these, 564 were returned, giving an overall response rate of 11%. The response rate for lawyers practising criminal law is unknown. Overall, lawyers were younger than psychiatrists. Most of the respondents in both groups were men. Overall, attitudes toward offenders with mental illness were very similar among lawyers and psychiatrists. Compared with lawyers, psychiatrists had significantly more correct responses to the items assessing knowledge. With a highest possible knowledge score of 27, the average score was 16 (SD 5.7) for psychiatrists and 13 (SD 7.23) for lawyers., Conclusions: The lack of familiarity with many of the key provisions among psychiatrists and lawyers is worrisome and suggests the need for educational materials to improve knowledge of the Criminal Code provisions governing mentally disordered offenders.

Two forensic psychiatric clinics visited on an exchange trip to Russia are described. The legal system for mentally disordered offenders in these institutions is also summarized, as is the training of psychiatrists in Russia.

Objective: Ethics committees (ECs) of medical colleges and other medical associations have become part of their professional experience only in recent years. This is probably attributable to such factors as greater professional accountability and informed consumerism. Relatively little is known about the procedures and agendas of such committees. The aim of the present study was to examine the EC of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, with respect to its practices, in order to learn how a medical college grapples with ethical concerns., Methods: Two members of the College's EC, including its foundation chairman, assembled relevant documents, and subjected them to detailed scrutiny. Consensus was used, preceded by independent attempts at categorising these issues covering the period from the EC's inception in 1978 to June, 1995., Results: Three hundred and sixty-seven issues were dealt with by the EC over a 17 year period, covering clinical practice, financial aspects, forensic psychiatry, teaching and research, liaison with other organisations and preparation of guidelines and a code of ethics., Conclusions: An EC can play a vital role in advising its parent body and members in the ethics of day-to-day professional life as well as formulating (and revising) a code of ethics and supplementary ethical guidelines.

With the world-wide increase in more expansion in Forensic Psychiatry, the author discusses developments in this field in Britain and sets out models for future development, particularly as it refers to the training of young psychiatrists interested in this field. In addition, there is a discussion of the academic and research endeavours.