Forensic Psychiatric Services

Forensic Psychiatric Services

Our specialist in psychiatry writes reports for all types of legal proceedings and courts of law, including the Court of Final Appeal, the High Court, the District Court (which includes the Family Court) and the Magistrates' Courts (which include the Juvenile Court) in Hong Kong.

Reports for civil proceedings and family law courts:

Testamentary capacity
Mental capacity
Family and child protection matters

Fitness to practice and work
Assessment of brain injury
Psychological injury claims
Second opinion report

Reports for criminal proceedings:

Fitness to plead and stand trial
Diminished responsibility
Pre-sentencing reports
Second opinion reports
Structured risk assessments
Driving offence reports

Psychiatric defences
Mitigation
Low frontal lobe function and poor impulse control
Automatism
Fitness for police interview
Shoplifting and kleptomania reports
Sex offending reports

Due to the varying nature of criminal cases, we advise having an initial assessment by our specialist in psychiatry. Then he can advise you whether a psychiatric condition may play a crucial role in the criminal case.

Legal assessment of victims of accidents or injuries

Psychological problems, including anxiety, driving phobia, and post-traumatic stress, have been found to be common among injured survivors who encountered road traffic accidents or industrial injuries. Research reported that patients who were diagnosed with fractures were 4.5 times more likely to report psychological distress (1). Another research study indicated that people being female, suffering from traumatic brain injury, being comatose at hospitalization, and having higher psychological distress scores were more likely to suffer from sleep problems (2).

Our specialist in psychiatry will perform both clinical and objective assessments, including the functional brain scan, to assess the impact of road traffic accidents or industrial injuries and provide specialist legal reports to help victims in the compensation process. Our specialist in psychiatry also provides pharmacological and psychological treatment to help the victim reduce psychological distress.

Source: Academic papers in which Dr Roger Ho is one of the co-authors.

1. Hoang CL, Vu HM, Pham HQ, Nguyen HLT, Vu LG, Tran BX, Latkin CA, Ho RCM, Ho CSH. Psychological Distress of Patients Experiencing Different Types of Road Traffic Injuries in Vietnam. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 May 14;17(10):3429. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17103429. PMID: 32423067; PMCID: PMC7277653.

2. Vu HM, Tran TH, Dang AK, Hoang TN, Nguyen CT, Nguyen HLT, Latkin CA, Ho CSH, Ho RCM. Sleep disorders among patients suffering from road traffic injuries in an urban setting of Vietnam: an exploratory study. Sci Rep. 2023 Jul 17;13(1):11496. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-38693-7. PMID: 37460778; PMCID: PMC10352290.

First clinical consultation to ascertain the relevance of a psychiatric condition in a legal case

During the first interview, which can last for several hours, our specialist in psychiatry needs to gather background information about the legal case, the events in chronological order, the evidence, letters from lawyers or Courts, current and past psychiatric history, past medical records and interview family members and informants. Then our psychiatrist can advise the client on the relevance of their psychiatric condition in a legal case and on the next course of action.

The following are examples of the relevance of psychiatric conditions in a legal case.

An adult with ADHD is arrested for careless driving due to inattention and impulsivity.
An adult is arrested for shoplifting due to kleptomania, poor memory, or attention problems.
An adult is arrested for a sexual offence due to paraphilia.
An adult with autism is arrested for causing physical harm to others due to a misunderstanding of the emotional signals sent by another person.
An elderly person without mental capacity or an elderly person with severe dementia is being misled to sign important legal documents.
An adult is having uncontrolled behaviour (e.g., sleep walking) or intoxication of a substance due to a history of substance misuse and has committed a crime.