Assessing detainees' ‘fitness to be interviewed’

Abstract

The police are increasingly requesting assesments of detainees' fitness to be interviewed. Senior registrars in psychiatry are often asked to perform this task. Gudjonsson has derived a set of guidelines from a Judge's ruling following a recent court case. Our survey identifies that the current practice of a group of senior registrars in psychiatry falls short of these guidelines. Reasons for this and implications for training are discussed.