Comparative forensic psychiatry: II. The perizia and the role of the forensic psychiatrist in the Italian legal system.

Understanding the work of forensic psychiatrists in other countries requires a knowledge of the role of the forensic psychiatrist in that country's legal system. It is useful to know the wording of the relevant legal standards and the assumptions and reasoning used by the forensic psychiatrists of that country when applying their expertise to a particular legal issue. The Italian legal system and, derivatively, Italian forensic psychiatry have developed from traditions which have much in common with those of other European nations. The purpose of this adaptation and translation of portions of Ugo For-