Abstract

The roots of South Africa’s forensic mental health system are plagued by its colonial and apartheid legacy. Extensive forensic waitlists exist partly due to restrictive criminal justice legislation and an under-funded forensic mental health system, predicated largely on European norms and standards. There are several areas of concern in South Africa’s forensic mental health system, which may be viewed as inequitable to Black Africans and other marginalized groups. Black Africans are over-represented in the forensic mental health system, and many defendants are not fluent in English – the official language of the courts. The absence of competency restoration can result in extended detention in forensic hospitals. People with intellectual disabilities are disproportionately targeted for sexual assault, and face significant barriers in attempts to achieve justice. Further, the colonial legacy of the rebuttable presumption of doli incapax (children presumed incapable of forming criminal intent) can affect determinations of children’s criminal capacity. These issues warrant change, including introducing competency restoration, improving systems for testimony by sexual violence survivors with intellectual disabilities, reconsidering the rebuttable presumption in child justice matters, and using psychologists and outpatient evaluations to address the waitlists for forensic examinations. Comparisons are also made with US standards, challenges, and developments, especially in view of the authors’ knowledge of both systems and the common challenges facing them.

摘要

南非法医精神卫生系统的根源受到殖民和种族隔离遗留问题的困扰。存在大量法医候补名单的部分原因是限制性刑事司法立法和资金不足的法医精神卫生系统（主要基于欧洲规范和标准）。南非的法医精神卫生系统有几个令人担忧的领域，这可能被视为对非洲黑人和其他边缘群体不公平。非洲黑人在法医精神卫生系统中所占比例过高，许多被告的英语（法庭的官方语言）并不流利。缺乏能力恢复可能会导致在法医医院的长期拘留。智障人士不成比例地成为性侵犯的目标，并在伸张正义的过程中面临重大障碍。此外，殖民时期遗留下来的可反驳的推定doli incapax（推定儿童无能力形成犯罪意图）可能影响儿童犯罪能力的确定。这些问题需要改变，包括引入能力恢复、改进智力障碍性暴力幸存者的证词系统、重新考虑儿童司法事务中​​的可反驳推定，以及利用心理学家和门诊评估来解决法医检查的候补名单问题。还与美国的标准、挑战和发展进行了比较，特别是考虑到作者对这两个系统的了解以及它们面临的共同挑战。