The continuing intervention by courts and legislatures in the decisions traditionally reserved to psychiatry is generally perceived by mental health professionals as a threat to their practice. As jurists insist upon supervising therapists' decisions to medicate, I to hospitalize patients,2 and, indeed, to discharge them, clinicians, as might reasonably be expected, retreat into a "siege mental...

The authors examine the legal questions raised by the involuntary medical and psychiatric treatment of a patient with psychotic denial of pregnancy. A case is presented, and psychotic denial of pregnancy is defined. Legal cases are reviewed that set precedent for state intervention on behalf of either the pregnant mother or the fetus when the mother refuses care. Included are specific cases tha...

We propose that institutions such as the U.S. Supreme Court can lead individuals to update their perceptions of social norms, in contrast to the mixed evidence on whether institutions shape individuals' personal opinions. We studied reactions to the June 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage. In a controlled experimental setting, we found that a favorable ruling, when pre...

BACKGROUND Healthcare legislation in European countries is similar in many respects. Most importantly, the framework of informed consent determines that physicians have the duty to provide detailed information about available therapeutic options and that patients have the right to refuse measures that contradict their personal values. However, when it comes to end-of-life decision-making a numb...

This article considers the justification for using panels of judges to make decisions in common law systems. The usual argument is that panels are more likely than lone judges to make correct judgments. This article suggests an additional justification: panels increase the predictability of law, so that potential litigants can anticipate correctly which legal rules will apply in their cases. Th...

We construct a complex citation network of a subset of Indian Constitutional Articles and the legal judgments that invoke them. We describe, how this dataset is constructed and also introduce the term of dispersion [1] from network science related to social networks, in the context of legal relevance. Our research shows that dispersion is a decisive structural feature to show the importance of ...

The perinatal necropsy is an important investigation following fetal or neonatal loss. Legal requirements on registration decree that consent is needed before necropsy can proceed in some of these babies. However, there are ill-defined grey areas which are open to legal and ethical difficulties. This paper discusses the problems that can arise with consent for a necropsy in the perinatal period...

BACKGROUND Trauma survivors often have to negotiate legal systems such as refugee status determination or the criminal justice system. METHODS & RESULTS We outline and discuss the contribution which research on trauma and related psychological processes can make to two particular areas of law where complex and difficult legal decisions must be made: in claims for refugee and humanitarian prot...

In jurisprudence methodological shifts of practical significance have seldom or never happened overnight. The discussion concerning legal methods and legal reasoning has been a challenge primarily for legal philosophers and many legal movements basically mirror a theoretical development. Nor is it always an easy task to elucidate methodological aspects related to legal reasoning in works of jur...

The dilemmas between legal obligations and ethical responsibilities can often create problems in clinical work. The treatment of minors, and particularly adolescents, can present special issues to the clinician that are becoming increasingly frequent and difficult. The issue of informed consent for treatment of adolescents raises serious questions for the clinical practitioner who is faced with...