JUSTICE FOR ALL In Italy, expert witnesses are ordered with the aim of assessing the nature and seriousness of a disability with a view to its relevance to security concerns in the community. The expert opinion appears to be “sentence oriented” and does not focus on the treatment options or the pressure and stress for the person concerned that may be connected with a trial. The experts do not propose possible safeguards during proceedings (e.g. breaks, psychological support, etc.) even in case of obvious difficulties of following the proceedings/trial.148 The judge or the prosecutor may request an expert opinion. Additionally, the accused or their representative may request an expert opinion. However, the accused is very often not able to afford the expert witness. While this should be covered by legal aid, experts consulted in the framework of the project noted that expert witnesses rarely accept payment in instalments. This is common practice in legal aid procedures (over a period of up to 4 years) and can consequently make it difficult – if not impossible – to find expert witnesses who accept payment via legal aid. In Lithuania, the Law on Forensic Examination provides a clear list of tasks and aims of the forensic psychiatric examination, including the mental state of the accused to determine their ability to understand the essence of their actions at the time of the offence, their dangerousness due to the mental health condition and recommendations on the use of a type of compulsory medical treatment. Forensic psychiatric as well as forensic psychological experts can be requested to conduct an assessment. The person concerned may be held there until the submission of the expert report to the prosecutor or the court. Outpatient examinations are also possible. One of the major challenges is the potentially long waiting time for the forensic psychiatric examination. In Lithuania, the pre-trial judge or the court must order a forensic psychiatric examination. During the investigation, the order will be upon request of the prosecution. 2.3.3. QUALITY OF EXPERT OPINIONS AND ASSESSMENT One of the main issues raised by many experts in national as well as regional consultations throughout the project was the low quality of expert opinions and the lack of quality reviews of the experts’ work and knowledge. In Bulgaria, interviewed experts shared their concern on the quality of expert opinions. Judges interviewed in the context of the projects shared that some expert witnesses produce assessments that are not reasoned and carried out in haste, including sometimes wrong data and limited to a half page assessment without any additional information or discussion on medical records of the individual.149 In Bulgaria, there are currently no legislative or other measures in place to assess and guarantee the quality of the expert witnesses’ work. While there are formal educational requirements, there is no effective evaluation of their knowledge. In practice, there are no safeguards for their independence (particularly from the appointing authority). In Lithuania, forensic psychiatric and forensic psychological experts have to undergo a screening of their professional qualifications every five years. The results of this review are submitted to the Ministry of Justice. Additionally, the Annual Activity Plan of the National Forensic Psychiatric Service foresees four in-service training events each year.150 At the same time, in some of the partner countries, concerns have been raised about the impartiality of the experts. In Germany, experts interviewed reported that expert opinions are often influenced by the institutions or the courts, who do not want to make any mistakes especially regarding leaves and releases, for fear of public denunciation. Experts tend to receive signals and understand tendencies of what “results” judges may wish for and prepare their opinions accordingly.151 In Slovenia too, judges usually have a good understanding of the “tendencies” of experts. Based on these, judges choose their appointment accordingly.152 45