Problems of Forensic Sciences 2012 Vol. 92 (XCII) 272-282
REASONS FOR DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN EXPERT REPORTS CONCERNING THE INVALIDATION OF A LAST WILL OR A DECLARATION OF WILL. THE ISSUE OF EXPERT REPORT STANDARDS
Małgorzata KOWANETZ, Elżbieta SKUPIEŃ
Institute of Forensic Research, Kraków, Poland
Streszczenie
Hitherto analyses of expert reports (opinions) prepared by experts from various institutions and court-registered experts in civil cases concerning the invalidation of a declaration of will point to a diverse methodology of expert report preparation. In the psychiatric literature, recommendations are given as to the structure of an expert report. On the other hand, in the psychological literature, there are general recommendations concerning rules of expert report preparation, but there is a lack of more detailed references to expert reports concerning declarations of will (concluding contracts, entering into non-financial agreements, preparing a last will). On the basis of their experiences – both in preparing expert reports and in confrontations with other experts during trials – the authors ascertained that substantive justification of proposed conclusions is an important issue. This article concerns the results of analysis of psychiatric, psychological and complex reports drawn up by experts from various institutions. As transpires from the analysis, the authors of expert reports comply with the formal rules defined in the Civil Code, but there are differences in the part of the report concerning interpretation of data, and especially in the justification of the final conclusions. The authors present their own propositions for a substantive analysis of information in the area of psychological and psychiatric assessment of state of consciousness in the context of Civil Code provisions as well as propositions for substantive analysis of data in the area of assessment of freedom of making decisions by persons preparing their last will or making another (type of) declaration of will.
Słowa kluczowe
Declaration of will; Complex expert reports; Standards of psychiatric expert reports; Standards of psychological expert reports.