Defendants with intellectual disability and autism spectrum conditions: the perspective of clinicians working across three jurisdictions

• The treatment of vulnerable defendants by criminal justice systems or correctional systems varies within and between countries. The purpose of this paper is to examine three legal jurisdictions - New South Wales in Australia; Norway; England and Wales - to understand the extent of variation in practice within the court systems for defendants with intellectual disabilities (ID) and/or autism spectrum conditions (ASC). Two of the jurisdictions had a process for screening in place, either in police custody or at court, but this was not universally implemented across each jurisdiction. All three jurisdictions had a process for supporting vulnerable defendants through the legal system. Across the three jurisdictions, there was variation in disposal options from a mandatory care setting to hospital treatment to a custodial sentence for serious offences. This variation requires further international exploration to ensure the rights of defendants with ID or ASC are understood and safeguarded.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Psykiatri (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Psychiatry (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Autism

autism spectrum condition

court

criminal justice system

developmental disability

forensic

intellectual disability

screening

vulnerable defendants

criminal-justice liaison

no-one-knows

learning-disability

diversion

services

mental-illness

stand trial

offenders

prevalence

prisoners

disorders

Criminology & Penology

Government & Law

Psychiatry

Psychology

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)