Center Leads Events on Cases Involving Mentally Ill Criminal Defendants

On November 3, Senior Fellow Jeremy Daum led a practical, full-day discussion on special considerations in lawyers’ representation of clients with psychiatric disorders at King and Capital Law Firm’s Research Institute for Criminal Defense. The principal speakers, Professors Zhiyuan Guo and Dr. Jinian Hu, spoke to an audience of more than 30 attorneys from across China.

Professor Guo, a criminal procedure expert at the China University of Political Science and Law, first presented on procedures for the compulsory psychiatric commitment of offenders found to be not guilty by reason of mental illness. Although these procedures, which took effect in 2013, require the participation of defense lawyers in compulsory commitment proceedings, most lawyers remain unfamiliar with them.

Dr. Hu, one of China’s leading forensic psychiatrists, continued the presentations with a discussion of basic mental health information. His presentation dispelled misconceptions about mental illness and gave participants insight into the symptoms of some commonly observed disorders.

During the afternoon session, a trained psychotherapist and lawyer role-played a mentally ill client meeting with his court-appointed attorney while in custody. This exercise and the conversation that followed provided an opportunity to discuss not only the special needs of clients with mental health issues, but lawyers’ duties to their clients in all cases—and what specifically the role of a lawyer should be when working with clients who may not be fully able to express themselves or understand the nature of the proceedings.