The significance of forensic psychological and psychiatric expert evidence in murder cases

The thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of psychological and psychiatric expert evidence in murder cases. Using a case study approach, it examines how psychological and psychiatric expert opinions influence judicial decision-making in murder cases and which specific aspects of offenders' mental states they address. The theoretical part defines the legal concept of murder (Section 140 of the Criminal Code) and outlines the procedural framework of expert evidence (including the role of the experts, the formal requirements for expert opinions, their judicial evaluation, etc.), with a subsequent focus on psychological and psychiatric forensic practice, discussing its typical content, challenges, and international context. It further describes the main areas assessed by forensic experts, such as personality traits, cognitive and control abilities, credibility, substance abuse, among others) as a basis for the subsequent empirical part of the work. The empirical part, in the form of a case study, includes a content analysis of 75 first- instance judgments prepared for answering several research questions. These include, for example, the frequency of expert opinions in the analyzed sample, the level of agreement between experts and courts regarding the imposition of protective therapy, or the...