Implementations for assessing criminal responsibility in psychiatric disorders related to alcohol use

Year 2017, Volume: 31 Issue: 3, 124 - 142, 01.12.2017

Yasin Hasan Balcıoğlu Fatih Öncü İbrahim Balcıoğlu

Abstract

Although alcohol is one of the most commonly used psychoactive substances for its recreative and medical aspects throughout the history, uncontrolled and excessive consumption leads to poor physical and mental health conditions. Furthermore, unfavorable consequences constantly arise on both social and legal issues. Alcohol use is a well-known trigger for criminal behavior; therefore, psychiatrists inevitably bear pivotal role in both clinical and forensic assessments of mental and behavioral conditions related to alcohol use. In the context of criminal law, psychiatrists as experts are frequently requested by judicial authorities to evaluate the presence of alcohol-associated mental and behavioral disturbances affecting the suspects’ capacity of judgment and controlling their own actions in order to determine criminal responsibility. In this regard, universal principals of forensic psychiatry warrants to defendant’s full criminal responsibility in the offenses that are committed under the influence of voluntary alcohol intake. Most of the criminal law systems in different countries adopt the afore-mentioned notion, however Anglo-American criminal law demonstrates several conditional exceptions in legal settings. On the other hand, involuntary use of alcohol or presence of alcohol-related permanent or irreversible mental disorders are widely accepted as mitigating or removing conditions on culpability. Inspired by both national and international literature, evidence-based textbooks of forensic psychiatry and criminal law, this review article is presented in the light of conventional wisdom and up-to-date knowledge. The aim of this article is to discuss and reflect different perspectives regarding alcohol use disorders, alcohol-crime relationship, evolution and general principals of criminal responsibility and finally, contradictive and recognized influences of alcohol-related clinical conditions on criminal responsibility supported with case illustrations. The ultimate keynote; this article is intended to provide the readers with the necessity of case-based approach in alcohol-related mental disorders for the assessment of criminal responsibility in forensic settings as it should be in any psychiatric case.

Keywords

Alcohol use disorders, criminal responsibility, intoxication

Alkol kullanımı ile ilişkili psikiyatrik bozukluklarda ceza sorumluluğunun belirlenmesine yönelik uygulamalar

Abstract

Tarih boyunca sosyal ve tıbbi amaçlarla kullanılagelen en yaygın psikoaktif maddelerden biri olan alkol, tüketim tarzındaki kontrolsüzlük ve aşırılık nedeniyle insanların beden ve ruh sağlıklarını olumsuz etkilemenin yanı sıra sosyal ve adli açıdan da pek çok probleme yol açmaktadır. Suç davranışına zemin hazırladığı bilinen alkol kullanımının, alkole bağlı ortaya çıkan ruhsal ve davranışsal klinik tabloların ve bunlarla ilişkili yasal durumların değerlendirilmesinde psikiyatristler önemli ve kaçınılmaz bir rol üstlenmektedir. Psikiyatristlerin bilirkişi olarak yoğunlukla görev aldığı ceza hukuku kapsamındaki ceza sorumluluğunun tespitine yönelik olarak, sanığın davranışlarını yönlendirebilme ve yargılama yetilerini etkileyen, alkol kullanımı ile ilişkili ruhsal ve davranışsal patolojilerin var olup olmadığına dair bilirkişi görüşü adli makamlarca sıkça talep edilmektedir. Bu bağlamda, genel geçer adli psikiyatri ilkelerine göre, yol açtığı klinik tablo ne olursa olsun, istemli olarak kullanılan alkolün etkisiyle işlenen suçlarda kişinin gerçekleştirdiği eylemden sorumluluğu tam kabul edilir. Pek çok ülkenin ceza hukuku sistemi bu görüşü benimsemekle birlikte Anglo-Amerikan ceza hukukunda durumsal istisnaların varlığı da gösterilmiştir. Alkolün istem dışı olarak alınması veya kullanımına bağlı kalıcı ve geri dönüşümsüz bir ruhsal bozukluğun varlığı halinde ise sanığın ceza sorumluluğunu azaltıcı veya kaldırıcı etki söz konusu olmaktadır. Ulusal ve uluslararası literatürden ve kanıta dayalı olarak hazırlanmış adli psikiyatri ve ceza hukuku kitaplarından yararlanılarak hazırlanan bu derleme metninde psikiyatrik yönleriyle alkol kullanım bozuklukları, alkol ve suç ilişkisi, ceza sorumluluğu tespitine yönelik uygulamaların gelişimi ve genel ilkeleri, ceza sorumluluğuna etkisi olduğu tartışılan ve kabul edilen alkol kullanımı ile ilişkili klinik durumlar sunularak tartışılmış olup vaka örnekleri ile pekiştirilmiştir. Yazımızın ulaşmayı amaçladığı ana fikir ise hangi klinik tabloya yol açarsa açsın, diğer tüm ruhsal bozukluklarda olduğu gibi alkol ile ilişkili klinik durumlarda da suça, hastalığa ve olguya özgü şekilde ceza sorumluluğu değerlendirmesinin uygulanması gerektiğidir.

Keywords

Alkol kullanım bozuklukları, ceza sorumluluğu, intoksikasyon

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