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SUMMARY: The past 5 years have seen numerous court judgments and changes to rules and procedures that relate to the work of expert psychiatric witnesses in the British Isles. This article outlines these changes, pointing out their implications for the expert witness, and highlights pertinent judgments in over 100 court and tribunal cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: In an article in this issue of BJPsych Advances a courageous psychiatrist describes judicial criticism of his expert testimony in a case before the UK's Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber). This commentary reflects on the value of criticism and feedback on expert witness work, contrasting the psychiatrist's positive response to the judge's words with the reaction of an expert witness in clinical negligence case, who rejected criticism of his evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: The history of the Grange Annual Conference is traced to its roots in the work of Sir William Norwood East, the Royal Medico-Psychological Association and Waddiloves Hospital in Bradford, UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: The expert witness practice of psychiatrists is under constant scrutiny by the courts and, in the UK, the General Medical Council, as well as within appraisal and revalidation as part of a doctor's overall practice. Regulation and appraisal of expert witness practice must address not only technical competence, including demonstration of a real understanding of the interface between medicine and law, but also ethical probity, including in respect of bias, which is the most challenging appraisal focus. In psychiatry, there is much room for 'values expression', and therefore bias, in the offering of expert opinion. This article first describes various legal and psychological definitions of bias; then addresses the sources and routes to expression of bias within expert witness practice, viewed legally, psychologically and neuroscientifically. Finally, it proposes ways in which inevitable bias can be minimised by the individual practitioner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: When a patient in an in-patient psychiatric setting allegedly commits a crime, psychiatrists are sometimes asked to assess their fitness to be interviewed by the police. This article describes how to conduct this assessment, outlines the criminal justice process leading to police interviews (with particular reference to the legal system in England and Wales) and highlights practical issues to consider when assessing fitness to be interviewed in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]