Samenvatting

Currently, there is a vivid debate in the Netherlands about the possible non-existence of free will and its implications for criminal law, in particular for the concept of ‘criminal responsibility’. Especially forensic psychiatrists who advise the court on a defendant’s legal insanity feel uneasiness because of this discussion on free will. In this contribution the author suggests to reconsider the current practice in the Netherlands in which psychiatrists explicitly advise the court on legal insanity and to consider the option to leave the judgment on legal insanity entirely to the judge. Meanwhile, of course, psychiatrists will have to inform the judge about the defendant’s mental condition at the time of the crime and its influence on the defendant’s behaviour. If needed, in order to optimize communication between the medical domain (psychiatrist) and the legal domain (judge), a legal insanity standard could be developed and introduced.