The high workload of psychiatrists at the Central Mental Hospital (CMH) is leading to delays in murder trials due to their inability to produce court reports. This issue was brought to light by Mr Justice Paul McDermott at the Central Criminal Court on Wednesday. He brought up this matter discussing with lawyers of 13 murder cases involving suspects with potential psychiatric issues. Both defence and prosecution attorneys reported inconsistencies in their success of procuring the services of consulting psychiatrists for their reports.
Mr Justice McDermott emphasised the gravity of this problem as it hampers proceeding with extremely critical cases. He stated the urgent need for the availability of psychiatric services due to the severity of the cases and for the benefit of the accused. According to the judge, the psychiatrists in the CMH fail to entertain requests for court reports due to their already overflowing workload, which exceeds their contractual obligations.
Furthermore, Mr Justice McDermott highlighted another issue where psychiatrists are prohibited from writing reports for the court if they’re already engaged in treating the accused as their patient at CMH. Additionally, several legal teams reported that the remuneration provided by the legal aid system for such work is regarded as insufficient by some psychiatrists.
An attorney informed the court that while UK experts can be employed, they refuse to work for the standard rate offered by the Department of Justice. He suggested that bridging the payment discrepancy has been possible through firm negotiations between solicitors and the department, albeit it is time-consuming.
While assuring to keep tabs on the progress in each case, Mr Justice McDermott acknowledged the challenges faced by the legal teams. He expressed his helplessness by saying, “I have no control over the ability to get a consultant psychiatrist to do this work. My hands are tied.”