General principles of forensic report writing

Stephen H. Allnutt, David Chaplow

Objective: The aim of this paper is to provide an update of principles of forensic

report writing, to guide and assist registrars, junior consultants and psychiatrists con-
sidering working within the forensic arena.
Method: The literature was reviewed for information on principles of report writing
from a variety of jurisdictions. Additionally, literature on medical ethics was examined.
Result: Writing reports is a professional activity that most psychiatrists undertake at
some point in their careers. The report represents the psychiatrist’s professional
opinion. It is important that information is accurate, relevant and ethical. In writing
medico-legal reports, psychiatry deviates from traditional medical ethics.
Conclusion: It is important that psychiatrists who write reports have a good under-
standing of the process and behave ethically and competently.
Key words: ethics, forensic report writing, psychiatry, review.

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 2000; 34:980–987

The medico-legal report is one of the few ‘windows’ to preventive detention). The nature of the respective
to psychiatry. Writing medico-legal reports is chal- report is important as it determines the writer’s role,
lenging. Most psychiatrists will be expected to do so at ethics and the report’s content.
some point in their career. A thoughtful, well-
structured report can be a rewarding experience for the Background to the ethics of forensic
writer. report writing

Types of forensic reports In general, psychiatric ethics concern the

doctor–patient relationship and the issues that flow
In most jurisdictions there are two broad areas of from this such as autonomy, beneficence and non-
report writing: civil and criminal. Civil reports deal maleficence [1]. The forensic psychiatrist is often in
with civil commitment; civil competencies; and ethical conflict in relation to role and responsibility,
guardianship, compensation for mental injury and agency and moral obligation.
abuse and neglect of children. Criminal reports deal The Hippocratic oath, which embodies the physi-
with competency to stand trial, mental state at the cians’ promise to ‘act primarily for the benefit and
time of the crime, mitigating defences, and presen- not for the harm of individuals, to protect their confi-
tencing reports to aid the court in disposition dences, to refrain from performing abortion and
matters (including, in New Zealand, matters relating euthanasia and having sexual relationships with indi-
viduals or their families, and to lead a life of moral
integrity’, until a few decades ago, was the ‘bedrock’
Stephen H. Allnutt, Clinical Director, Long Bay Hospital of medical ethics [2]. More recently, doubts about the
(Correspondence)
oath’s historical origins, its moral relevance and its
Corrections Health, PO Box 150, Matraville, New South Wales
2036, Australia. Email: shallnutt@hotmail.com
ability to address societal obligations have arisen
David Chaplow, Director, Mason Clinic, and Clinical Reader
[2]. Society as a whole expects loyalty to individual
The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
patients from clinicians. Society also demands that
Received 11 February 2000; revised 28 June 2000; accepted 5 July
medicine respect their collective rights in regard to
2000. issues that relate to public protection, cost-effective

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 S.H. ALLNUTT, D. CHAPLOW 981

management and resource allocation. In general, knowledge and treatment in order to allow harm to be
society regularly turns to medicine to serve multiple done to the individual [5]. Although the death penalty
gate-keeping roles [3]. As a result, ‘society maintains is not an issue for Australasian psychiatrists, this issue
contradictory private and public expectations of med- is reflected in other forms of local legislation [11].
icine’ [4, p.7]. Bloche [4] argues that the tension created between
Examples of conflicts between medicine’s social doctors’ ethical obligations to the individual and
obligations and medicine’s obligation to the individ- ethical obligations to society is healthy and that this
ual include confidentiality versus the duty to protect tension respects the needs of the community as well
members of the public; autonomy versus coercion to as those of the individual. Balancing both these
facilitate treatment; and beneficence versus the obligations ensures ‘a healthy measure of restraint on
giving of expert evidence that may be damaging to [psychiatrists’] service to the state’ (p.8). We agree.
the individual. It is against the background of this debate and con-
Freedman and Halpern warn against the long-term flict that forensic psychiatrists engage in their task of
consequences of psychiatrists becoming agents of the report writing. Those who choose to work as forensic
state [5]. Pellegrino believes that the moral premise, psychiatrists should make themselves aware of the
that the law takes precedence over medical ethics, ethical difficulties involved.
that the good of the many is more important than the
good of the few, is erroneous. This can lead to abuses Advice on the ethical approach to
as seen in Nazi Germany, communist Soviet Union medico-legal assessment
[6] and more recently in Japan [7]. Pellegrino
reminds us that ‘the integrity of medical ethics is not The following is practical advice for the develop-
immune to corrosion in democratic countries’ [6, ment of reports. Some advice derives from the
p.1623]. These authors caution regarding psychia- authors’ experience and reflects their views.
trists’ involvement in the forensic area. Ethical principles that govern the practice of psy-
Others, such as Appelbaum [8,9], argue that the chiatry in Australia and New Zealand are outlined in
role of psychiatry in the medico-legal setting departs the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of
from the paradigm of the treatment setting and so Psychiatrists Code of Ethics [12]. There are a number
traditional ethics do not apply. Appelbaum believes of practical ethical issues that are important to con-
that the role of the forensic psychiatrist is prim- sider. These include roles and boundaries, informed
arily as ‘evaluator’, not as therapist. Principles of consent, the limits of confidentiality, and respect for
non-malifecence and beneficence are of secondary autonomy and privacy [12–15].
importance. He is of the view that the forensic psy-
chiatric paradigm requires as a primary value ‘the Clarify roles and boundaries
advancement of justice’. Appelbaum opines that the
principles of forensic psychiatry are ‘subjective truth- Request for a court report can arise from the indi-
telling’ (the expert’s genuine belief in the testimony), vidual themselves, a judge, counsel for the defence,
‘objective truth telling’ (the acknowledgement of lim- prosecution or a civil agency representing the
itations of the testimony and limits of scientific individual or another third party. Individuals are
knowledge) and ‘respect for the person’. sometimes referred for evaluation under coercion,
Stone [10] argues that the law has always imposed and sometimes without legal representation. In such
the standard of ‘truthfulness’ on the expert. He argues circumstances, the person undergoing the evaluation
that, irrespective of this, the sociopsychological can misperceive the situation and cooperate with the
context of the criminal justice system makes the psy- psychiatrist in the belief that anything he or she
chiatrist vulnerable to pursuing economic, narcissis- reveals will result in a beneficent outcome. For this
tic and other ends. He states that psychiatrists are at reason, it is important to clarify roles and boundaries
risk of claiming ‘more objective certainty and sub- from the outset. Some authors argue that the deliber-
jective conviction than they could possibly justify in ate use of empathy by the psychiatrist should not be
a clinical context’. used with the specific intention of ‘coercing’ (our
Involvement in the assessment and treatment of word) information from the individual [16].
death row prisoners takes the participation of forensic Clarifying roles and boundaries can be difficult in
psychiatrists in medico-legal matters to its logical and the context of inpatient forensic psychiatric assess-
extreme conclusion. That is, applying psychiatric ment. In this situation, the psychiatrist is commonly

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982 FORENSIC REPORT WRITING

the therapist and evaluator. There is potential for Although there may be a duty to the court when
disruption of the therapeutic alliance and possible writing a forensic psychiatric report, there is an
‘therapeutic’ bias. Stone [10] has suggested that the obligation to report only what is relevant to the case
forensic psychiatrist should avoid this conflict. In [9,20]. Care must be taken when adding information
some jurisdictions this may not be practicable. It that implicates another person in an unreported crime
could be argued that it is the treating psychiatrist who or information that may be damaging to a third party.
will have the greater knowledge of the patient with In doing so, the forensic psychiatrist may unwittingly
which to inform the court when there is a challenge become an agent of the State, potentially establishing
to civil committal or when the individual is remanded grounds for charges against the individual or another
to a psychiatric hospital for assessment and requires party [15,20]. Damaged third parties may have cause
further treatment. When confronted with circum- to litigate.
stances that may cause conflict it may be wise to seek It may be necessary to pursue further information
the second opinion of a colleague. from third parties or to access previous psychiatric
information. Specific consent from the individual
Obtain informed consent should be obtained in this regard [15]. We suggest
careful apprisal of third parties of the limits of confi-
Annotation 1 in the Royal Australian and New dentiality and possible consequences prior to engag-
Zealand College of Psychiatrists Code of Ethics [12] ing them in an assessment.
requires that the individual be informed of the In respect of a patient threatening another person,
purpose of the report, the nature of the assessment the psychiatrist is in a difficult position in regard to
and the potential benefits and risks of undertaking confidentiality. Annotations 6 to 8 [12] states that
the assessment. We would add: for whom the report information may be released if the psychiatrist is
is being written, what agency the psychiatrist is aware of and unable to influence the individual’s
working for, the consequences of making incriminat- intention to seriously harm others; but that the psychi-
ing statements and the possibility of information atrist’s actions must be justifiable and the information
being made available to a wider lay public. Accord- limited to relevance. The forensic psychiatrist retained
ing to Appelbaum [9], the term ‘informed consent’ in by the individual’s council is a representative of the
the context of forensic evaluations involves giving attorney and is governed by the attorney–client privi-
subjects enough information to, at minimum, be able lege. In such a situation, the forensic psychiatrist
to elect to withhold cooperation from the evaluation. should be guided by College ethics.
Annotation 3 requires that a person be competent It is important to be aware of the stage of the pro-
to give consent. A dilemma is created in some ceedings and take care not to address issues that may
medico-legal situations when the person is incompe- prejudice the individual’s case or disrupt the legal
tent to give consent to a forensic report. We suggest process.
that, in such cases, consent should be obtained from
a close relative, guardian or other statutory agent, Respect individual autonomy
such as the court.
Given the sensitive nature of the information,
Explain the limits of confidentiality individuals may refuse to be evaluated. The ethical
issues relate to whether assessment is court man-
Confidentiality is an important issue [17–19]. In a dated or voluntary. A court-mandated report might
forensic evaluation there are limits to confidentiality. proceed irrespective of incompetence or informed
Annotation 3 [12] states that the limits of confiden- refusal as long as consent from the individual’s
tiality should be clarified as part of the process of legal representative has been obtained. In our view,
obtaining consent. This implies that the individual an individual’s refusal to comply with an evalua-
should be specifically warned that information could tion for a non-court-mandated report should be
be made public and used in a manner that they per- respected, evaluation discontinued and the individ-
ceive is adverse to them and potentially be made ual informed of the possible consequences of non-
available to third and injured parties. In our opinion, participation. There is a risk that in doing this, the
it is not possible to promise confidentiality even when individual is subtlety coerced to continue. To guard
attorney–client privilege applies, as this would pre- against this, when a refusal to participate occurs,
empt any decisions made by the individual’s counsel. we suggest suspending the assessment until the

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 S.H. ALLNUTT, D. CHAPLOW 983

individual has had the opportunity to discuss the available evidence. The standard of the quality of the
issue with his or her counsel. evaluation is one that would be accepted by one’s
peers [20]. The need for further special examination
Preparing and writing court reports such as a computed tomography scan, electroen-
cephalogram, sleep laboratory testing and neuropsy-
The purpose of the forensic report is to assist the chological testing may be identified during the
court in coming to an appropriate decision in regard to evaluation. The time frame may need to be negotiated
the matter before it. When it is to be followed by with the agent. Consideration may well be given to
expert testimony it will be regarded as ‘Evidence-in- refusing the case if the time is too limited.
Chief’. Therefore it should be accurate and defensible
under cross-examination [13]. There are a number of Negotiating fees
steps to be taken in the process of compiling a report.
These include being instructed, evaluation, formulat- In the private sector, it may be prudent to ensure
ing an opinion and, finally, drafting the report. that sufficient funds are available to allow a proper
assessment to occur at a rate that is acceptable to both
Instruction parties. It is, in our view, the responsibility of the
forensic psychiatrist to clarify the fee prior to com-
The process of instruction requires the formalisa- mencing the evaluation. It may be advisable to obtain
tion of the various parties’ roles and responsibilities, this in writing from the agent. It is possible that
understanding the medico-legal issues of the case and dissatisfaction with funding arrangements could
negotiation of time and resources. adversely effect the evaluation through bias or inat-
tention to detail on the part of the psychiatrist [21].
Clarify and formalise issues
Evaluation
It is wise to ensure that instruction is formalised in
writing. This should provide identifying data, contact The purpose of the evaluation is to address the legal
telephone numbers and addresses, the purpose of the question. Evaluation consists of understanding the past
report, medico-legal issues in regard to the case, and present behaviour and the mental state of the
court dates and an agreement about payment. On person before the court in relation to the legal question.
receipt of this documentation the forensic psychia-
trist would be wise to clarify roles, responsibilities Prepare for the interview
and expectations of both parties. Occasionally, a non-
legal third party will make a request for a forensic Prior to seeing the individual, there are a number of
report. It may be advisable in such cases not to evaluative steps that could be undertaken first. This
proceed without formal legal instruction. In this situ- may include review of all material (formal charges
ation, it is probably best to advise the third party to made against the defendant, police summary of facts,
seek his or her own legal advice. police interview by video and the transcript, relevant
statements and affidavit material, psychological and
Understand the medico-legal issues psychiatric reports and clinical notes).

It is important that the forensic psychiatrist under- Collect information relevant to the
stands the legal criteria that define the medico-legal medico-legal issue
issue and, at minimum, to have reviewed the legal
text itself. A forensic psychiatric assessment differs from a
general psychiatric assessment in that it focuses on
Negotiate adequate time the specific medico-legal issue at hand.
Medico-legal issues that deal with civil and crim-
Forensic evaluations are often longer than general inal competencies most commonly require specific
psychiatric evaluation. Allow as much time as neces- application of present psychiatric phenomena to the
sary. Be prepared for further assessments with the specific medico-legal issue. The assessment may
individual, the family, the victim(s) or other wit- therefore focus predominantly on establishing the
nesses. Allow enough time to adequately review the presence or absence of current mental illness and

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984 FORENSIC REPORT WRITING

elucidation of psychological phenomena, their sever- The focus of the assessment varies according to the
ity and relevance to the specific issue of competency. medico-legal question being asked.
In regard to assessments of mental state at the time
of the offence (diminished responsibility, insanity, Explore all sources
automatism, provocation, specific and general intent
and infanticide), the assessment focuses on a careful Information from the individual alone is rarely
review of the offence. The objective is to establish the adequate. It is frequently necessary to obtain collat-
nature of the psychological phenomena that were eral information from third parties and review other
active at the time of the offence and the impact these sources such as previous psychiatric notes. Collateral
symptoms had on the individual’s motives and intent information can be invaluable in clarifying, support-
in regard to the offence itself. In legal terms the objec- ing or refuting information obtained from the
tive is to establish the degree to which the ‘mens rea’ individual under assessment.
was present, absent or distorted and its nexus with
offending behaviour. In legal terms ‘mens rea’ means Drafting the report
‘guilty mind’ and implies the mental component of
Although the forensic psychiatrist may have infor-
behaviour as opposed to ‘actus reus’ which means
mation to formulate opinion on a variety of topics, the
‘guilty action’, the physical component of the crime
report needs to be drafted according to the medico-
[14]. ‘Mens rea’ broadly speaking, encompasses the
legal question asked. The report should be easy to
concepts of knowledge, purpose, voluntariness, inten-
read and should separate findings from opinion.
tion, rational thought and consciousness [20]. Whereas
assessments of insanity and automatism focus on psy-
Make the report easy to read and understand
chiatric phenomena at the time of the offence, it may
sometimes be important to contextualise the offence The use of language is important. Resnick [22] sug-
and explain the factors that may have contributed to the gests using the principles of clarity, brevity, simplicity
offence. This is sometimes the case in assessments for and humanity. Clarity is achieved by avoiding use of
a defence of provocation, which may require a psycho- technical jargon, hedging statements, double nega-
dynamic understanding expressed in a formulation. tives and ambiguity. Write factual and clinical data in
Evaluations for compensation for mental injury the past tense. Write the opinion in the present tense.
may require attention regarding the impact of stres- Brevity is achieved by using short words, short para-
sors on mental state and the temporal nature of those graphs and sentences of less than 20–25 words. Avoid
stressors to the onset and perpetuation of that mental superfluity and repetition. Simplicity can be achieved
state. The issue of causality can be the focus of the by avoiding the use of multisyllabic words, words that
assessment because of the question of compensation. end in ‘tion’, making verbs nouns and meaningless
These assessments can be time consuming and introductions to sentences. Make as much use of
require a careful review of previous psychiatric and simple words as possible. Use ‘quotations’ which
developmental history. animate the data, active rather than passive tense and
Reports on child neglect and abuse will require write in a manner that can be read aloud comfortably.
astute, objective and thorough understanding of the Avoid apologies, vagueness, adjectives, adverbs, pejo-
familial, social and systemic environment of the child rative language and generalities. Avoid the use of
and the relationship between these and the presenting technical terms or, if unavoidable, explain their
symptoms. Depending on the maturity of the child, meaning in parenthesis [15]. Some writers include a
the assessment may focus on gathering collateral glossary of terms at the end of their reports.
information in the regard to the child and its environ-
ment, frequently with the object of substantiating the Utilise sections
clinical facts.
Disposition and sentencing reports need to be com- The report can be roughly divided into two main
prehensive. All the issues pertaining to the case, in our parts that deal with the findings and the opinion.
opinion, are important. This should include diagnosis, Findings can further be divided into sections: the
formulation, an understanding of the relationship introduction, the body, mental status examination and
between the psychological phenomena and the summary.
medico-legal issue, prognosis and management of the The introductory section acknowledges the referral
illness and the risk. from the agent requesting the report, the understanding

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 S.H. ALLNUTT, D. CHAPLOW 985

of the medico-legal situation, the status of the case, fact diagnostic categories, in our view, can create
nature of the charges and the purpose of the report. enormous difficulties for both the justice system and
This is generally followed by a list of sources of the expert. Medico-legal report writing primarily
information that the forensic psychiatrist has requires the approach of a phenomenologist, not a
reviewed and a statement that indicates that a process diagnostician. It may be wise to remember that cate-
of consent has occurred between the forensic psychi- gorical classification systems are provided with the
atrist and the individual. object of improving interrater reliability to facilitate
The body of the report outlines the clinical find- research, not for use in the courtroom [24]. It is often
ings. These should be reported without inference and more appropriate to address the medico-legal issue in
as far as is reasonably possible, including the free terms of the phenomena and relevant symptoms and
narrative of the individuals interviewed. Verbatim to avoid comment on diagnosis until the issue has
quotes can be helpful. Not all of the information been addressed. For example, in an insanity defence,
obtained need be included in the report. an explanation of the nature of the individual’s delu-
The mental status can include the assessment of phe- sions at the time of the offence and their impact on
nomena relevant to the medico-legal issue in question. the offending behaviour has more relevance than
It is often helpful to include a ‘summary’ of the rel- saying ‘this person has schizophrenia and is therefore
evant data that incorporates the main findings of insane’. However, once the medico-legal issue has
relevance on which the opinion is going to be based. been resolved for the court or tribunal, the issue of
disposition becomes relevant. Diagnosis is probably
Separate findings from opinion of greater importance here as it informs prognosis
and treatment, both issues of interest to the court at
The opinion section of the report deals with the this stage.
psychiatrist’s inference of how the findings relate to
the medico-legal issue. Delineating which part of the Show the reasoning process
report deals with the opinion will allow the reader to
distinguish finding from inference. Information in The opinion is that part of the report that is of most
the findings section could be reported in an objective interest to the court. The opinion should be based on
fashion with the absence of inference or conclusion the findings [20]. Credibility given to the report will
about the findings until the opinion section [23]. likely depend on the strength of the reasoning. In our
view it is important to state the opinion in a logical
Opinions way. Structure the opinion by arguing the basis for
each level of inference by first establishing the evi-
Be a psychiatrist, not a lawyer dence for psychopathology. Outline the nature of the
psychopathology and then explain the impact of the
Medico-legal questions are legal questions
psychopathology on the person’s behaviour. Finally,
informed by medical opinion. Terms such as ‘mental
explain how the behaviour and psychopathology
disorder’, ‘insanity’, ‘competency’ and ‘capacity’,
apply to the medico-legal issue. Be aware of the
‘automatism’ and ‘mental injury’ are legal concepts.
limits of inferring causality. It is often advisable to
They are not medical concepts. The justice system
address other possible conclusions, giving reasons
invites experts to provide psychiatric information
why they were excluded. Try to address inconsisten-
which it can utilise to apply to the legal concept in
cies and contradictions. Attention to these details will
order to determine the presence or absence of the
increase the reader’s confidence in the credibility of
issue in legal terms. Although experienced experts can
the report and encourage the writer to think through
have intimate understanding of the medico-legal
the issues.
concept, sometimes better than that of a relatively
inexperienced lawyer, it is in our view better to be
Maintain integrity
cautious when crossing such professional boundaries.
The report writer should be aware that involvement
Be a phenomenologist first and a
in forensic matters makes him or her to an extent
diagnostician second
responsible for the outcome for the individual.
Most medico-legal questions require understanding Exercise care in formulating the opinion and strive
of the psychological phenomena, not diagnosis. In for objectivity. It is fair to say that all forensic reports

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986 FORENSIC REPORT WRITING

are at risk of bias [25]. Any report writer who planning ahead, an ethical and thoughtful approach
believes him- or herself to be impervious to bias is at contribute to making report writing a rewarding
risk. Be aware of personal feelings about the individ- endeavour.
ual, the crime and potential influence by the agent.
Psychiatric findings are largely subjective and the Acknowledgement
psychiatrist’s opinion is vulnerable to influence of
social and cultural variables [26]. Underlying atti- The authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful
tudes and beliefs held by the forensic psychiatrist comments provided by Paul Mullen in the drafting of
could influence the writers’ opinions [26]. The report this paper.
writer should make clear the limitations of the report
and the writer’s expertise if they are significant [26]. References
The forensic report should be written with the
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