Biases in the Criminal Justice System with Reference to the Practice of Compulsory Treatment of Mentally Ill Offenders

Abstract

One of the least researched areas of the economic analysis of law
today is Criminal law and Criminal justice. A contemporary line of thinking
and examination is the behavioural economic approach that reflects on various
mental distortions (i.e. biases) affecting the decision-making and situationassessment of individuals. The focus of my essay is the intersection of Criminal
law and behavioural economics in the sphere of biases influencing the
participants in criminal proceedings. The measure of compulsory treatment in
the cases of mentally ill offenders serves as an illustration: the application of
the sanction, as well as the review procedure aimed at deciding whether an
already applied sanction could be ceased and the treated person should be
released. Outlining this measure is justified by the fact that the potential
considerations and evaluations of mentally ill offenders cannot be taken into
account as those of sane perpetrators (who are in no state of impairment of the
mind). This places an even greater responsibility on the rest of the procedural
participants – especially judges and experts – to deliver well-reasoned
decisions by eliminating the eventual negative consequences of their generally
less reflected mental distortions that could pose further detriments to the
mentally ill. As a closure, I am referring to certain ways and means that can
potentially reduce the role of biases in the criminal proceedings and thus
contribute to fairer jurisdiction for the mentally ill.