SCENARIOS
75. It is said that the criminal justice system operates
on the principle enunciated by William Blackstone that "It
is better that ten guilty escape than one innocent suffer".[74]
The requirements of public protection in relation to dangerous
people with severe personality disorder may be that several people
have to be detained in order to prevent one being a risk to members
of the public. In our view the best case scenario, if these proposals
are implemented, would be as follows:
|
additional resources provide
better facilities and more staff to manage dangerous people with
severe personality disorder in a secure and therapeutic environment |
| further scientific research produces improved
assessment tools with which psychiatrists can more reliably diagnose
severe personality disorder and better assess the risk to the
public posed by an individual |
| recent legal developments have ensured that
most dangerous individuals with severe personality disorder are
sentenced to discretionary life sentences where their release
is subject to review and eventual supervision |
| new powers enable the retention of those who
have completed fixed prison sentences but who are assessed as
remaining a danger to the public |
| individuals living in the community are recommended
for assessment by local panels (including doctors, social workers
and the police) but better resources and improved assessment mean
that the powers of detention are used only in a few cases where
there is concensus among all parties about the need for detention |
| methods of assessment and decision command almost
universal respect and are not successfully challenged under the
ECHR |
| no members of the public are killed by dangerous
people with severe personality disorder |
| no individuals are shown to have been wrongly
detained. |
Best case scenario
76. It is easy to imagine how things might not work
out as well in practice. A worst case scenario might be:
| further research fails to produce sufficiently robust
assessment methods, so professionals within the system continue
to lack confidence in their ability to predict dangerousness |
| over-caution leads to a large number of individuals
being kept in prison at the end of their sentences |
| lack of resources and shortage of staff make it hard
for people to be detained in a therapeutic environment |
| challenges before the ECHR lead to some individuals
having to be released because they cannot be given any treatment |
| large sums of compensation are paid to those wrongly
detained under flawed assessment processes |
| a person detained for assessment but not judged sufficiently
dangerous to be detained indefinitely commits an horrific killing. |
Worst case scenario
74 Commentaries
on the Laws of England, book iv, p27. Back
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