engleski

LEGAL ASPECTS OF DEMENTIA ASSESSMENT EXPERTISE : CROATIAN EXPERIENCE

Medical care and legal system are two different scientific disciplines with different sets of knowledge and approach to the same problem: understanding the human being and its behaviour in the interest of just approach to its actions. Social, legal and moral norms regulate relationships and coexistence in the community. In most countries increase in elderly criminality is difficult to prove implying the existence of „ dark figures“ , probably showing strong public emotions that legal sentence is not the proper mean of treatment of the elderly and feeble persons. Thus legal norms do not explicitly address the elderly and their older age changes opposed to underage delinquency that constitutes separate legal status. The law does allow acknowledgment of phenomenological and etiological specificities of criminal acts performed by the elderly implying milder sentences, individual approach and adjustment to specificities and differences of such age. Frequent daily legal problem is: what to do with the elderly delinquents? Questions of competency to stand trial, legal responsibility and competency to be sentenced can be differentially approached. The expertise process should determine if aging is physiological or if dementia exists. In the case dementia is present, specific type and cause, course and prognosis of the disease should be assessed. The influence of social factors, possible alcohol abuse or other influences should be estimated. Such individuals are usually labeled as partially or completely incompetent. In cases of crime or felony by perpetrators incompetent because of advanced dementia or mental deficiency due to older age, or if a social danger is present, he or she may be confined to a secured medical facility or placed in an institution for reasons of long-term medical care. Increased number of elderly prisoners in Croatia and in other countries with individuals who develop dementia whilst in custody, raises other ethical implications.

Dementia; legal aspects; assesment expertise

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