Current issues of experts' participation in child custody in the event of parents' separation ²¹¹⁵

The experts’ participation in child custody cases in the event of parents’ separation is analyzed in this article. The analysis of 68 civil cases shown that many experts’ conclusions did not meet the professional and ethic standards, were not based on any scientific methodology, did not correspond to juridical requests and exceed the limits of experts’ competence. A classification of experts’ conclusions typical mistakes is proposed: violation of the limits of legal and professional competence; ethnic mistakes (for example, linked to the expert’s «ambivalent role», the sympathy for one side of the conflict); methodological mistakes; breach of information collection procedure (insufficiency of used techniques, discrepancy between the used methods and the age of the subject; interpretations without argumentation etc.); inadequate evaluation of the mental state of the subject, underestimation of his/her mental disorder and social danger. It was emphasized that the recommendations concerning the reasonability of residence of a child with one of the parents and/or concerning the rules of communication with another parent are the rude excess of the competence in experts’ conclusions. These mistakes have legal consequences and do not correspond to the family legislation.

Keywords: child’s interests, divorce, complex forensic psychological-psychiatric expertise, experts’ conclusion, typical mistakes.

Column: Forensic and Clinical Psychology in Legal Context