The National Institute of Forensic Psychiatry Philippe-Pinel is overwhelmed. Since the pandemic, the institution has received so many requests for expert opinions for high-risk or long-time offenders from the courts that it has struggled to meet legal deadlines. The institute has received 50 applications since April 1st. Normally 40 are processed per year.

The number of experts capable of carrying out this type of assessment in Quebec is not sufficient to meet this growing demand, which only the institute can meet.mentions Pascale Trudeau, the institution’s communications consultant, via email.

In Quebec, all requests for this type of legal assessment must go through the Pinel Institute. However, the institute states that only three of its experts are currently trained for this.

Since 2012, the Philippe Pinel Institute has also been able to count on the help of a specially trained psychologist from the University Institute in Mental Health of Quebec (IUSMQ). In 10 years it has conducted 85 assessments for high-risk or long-time offenders.

Given the large number of requests received by the Pinel Institute, the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale offered its support to the government ahead of the holidays.

We offered to increase the number of hours for psychologists at very short notice and to submit applications within the CIUSSS to hire and train a new psychologist.shows by email Annie Ouellet, spokeswoman for the CIUSSS. Discussions are currently taking place. We can work to make these additions once we receive financial approvals..

The Department of Health and Human Services could not comment on this information on Thursday.

For its part, the Philippe Pinel Institute claims that the University Institute in Mental Health of Quebec was mandated to carry out 15 assessments per year and has been doing so since 2011. However, Pinel should have regularly compensated for the difficulties of the IUSMQ and those of another mandated institution, to accomplish this goal.

We are pleased that the CUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale, with whom we recently had discussions, is able to fulfill its mandate of conducting 15 assessments a year and that it is working to do more.says Pascale Trudeau.

air for the courts

Criminal lawyer Pierre Gagnon hopes for the arrival of this new resource in Quebec. Each additional psychiatrist made available to the legal community will be appreciatedhe said.

Me Gagnon has called on the expertise of forensic psychiatrists on more than one occasion. In addition to the hazard assessments, dangerous offenders may complete two other types of assessments: fitness and criminal responsibility. In any case, the deadlines are important and not new, according to the lawyer.

[Les psychiatres légistes] are not legion. There are still some of them in the province and it is very difficult to maintain their services.he said.

The Pinel Institute confirms that the unusual delays only affect assessments for offenders, but that’s not what Me Gagnon is observing.

Logically, when psychiatrists practicing forensic psychiatry are asked to provide expert opinions on the dangerousness of the offender being monitored, they cannot use the time they have to devote to such expert opinions [consacrer] to knowledge about the nature of […] not criminally responsible.

A compelling example is the trial of his client, Martin Lévesque, accused of murdering a woman in September 2021. The proceedings could have started much earlier if the lawyer could have obtained a psychiatric report in a timely manner. In this case, he estimates that he will receive an NCR rating a year after applying.

I can understand very well that the doctors are overwhelmed, but the consequence is that there are delays at the judicial level, he explains. Everyone fears that proceedings will be stopped.

He believes that this expertise should be made more attractive in order to speed up procedures and avoid the closure of Jordan Decision procedures.