Facilitators: Professor David Cooke (UK) & Mr Michael Carlin (UK)

Practitioners are increasingly required to defend their risk assessment reports in court and other legal settings including Mental Health Tribunals. Reports for such settings should be distinctly different from those prepared for more routine clinical tasks.

This workshop focuses on enhancing both report writing and court room skills. The preparation of sound reports can make the process of presenting evidence in court more professional and less anxiety provoking. The workshop is led by a psychologist and a criminal lawyer.

Topics to be covered will include the legal framework in which reports have to be prepared, the importance of identifying and answering the legal question posed, and how to structure reports to increase their defensibility, after evidence-giving.. In relation to evidence-giving common tactics used in cross-examination will be identified and appropriate responses described, considered and if wished, practiced. Challenges to different methods of assessing risk will be discussed. In this workshop participants will be trained using videotaped recordings of evidence giving and role playing. Practical exercises will include the evaluation of different reports.

Participants are encouraged to bring one of their own reports so that direct feedback can be provided.