Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T05:13:17.504Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Forensic psychiatric service provision in Pakistan and its challenges

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Tariq Hassan ,
Asad Tamizuddin Nizami  and
M. Selim Asmer
Tariq Hassan
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Division of Forensic Psychiatry, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, email [email protected]
Asad Tamizuddin Nizami
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, WHO Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, Rawalpindi Medical College, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
M. Selim Asmer
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

In the Islamic Republic of Pakistan the law relating to people who are mentally ill, until 2001, was set out by the Lunacy Act of 1912, which was inherited from the British colonial occupiers. In 2001 the Mental Health Ordinance 2001 took its place but only for this federal law to be superseded in April 2010 with the 18th constitutional amendment. As part of that amendment, provinces have become responsible for (psychiatric) healthcare, including mental health legislation. Forensic psychiatry is practised in Pakistan but is very much in its infancy; it needs to develop and learn from more experienced countries in Europe and North America. Cultural factors and misconceptions arising from religion can at times contribute to, or create, barriers to the implementation of forensic psychiatric services in Pakistan. This paper reviews the current state of forensic psychiatric services in Pakistan and is intended to open the debate on the challenges ahead.

Type
Psychiatry Under Restrictive Conditions
Information
BJPsych International , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , May 2017 , pp. 40 - 44
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits noncommercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2017

References

References

Ali, R. (2012) Desecration of Holy Quran: accused shop owner blames ‘blasphemous voices’. Express Tribune, 24 June. Available at http://tribune.com.pk/story/398427/desecration-of-holy-quran-accused-shop-owner-blames-blasphemous-voices (accessed 19 May 2016).Google Scholar
Chaleby, K. S. (1996) Issues in forensic psychiatry in Islamic jurisprudence. Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 24, 117–124.Google ScholarPubMed
Chaleby, K. S. (2001) Forensic Psychiatry in Islamic Jurisprudence. International Institute of Islamic Thought.Google Scholar
Gadit, A. (2007) Psychiatry in Pakistan: 1947–2006: a new balance sheet. Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 57, 453–463.Google ScholarPubMed
Guerin, O. (2012) Life of Pakistan blasphemy case girl ‘in danger’, BBC News online, 31 August, at http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-19437391 (accessed 19 May 2016).Google Scholar
Hussain, F. (2011) The judicial system of Pakistan, Registrar, Supreme Court of Pakistan, Islamabad. Available at http://www.supremecourt.gov.pk/web/user_files/File/thejudicialsystemofPakistan.pdf (accessed 25 June 2012).Google Scholar
Jillani, S. (2012) Pakistan mob burns man to death for ‘blasphemy’. BBC News online, 4 July, at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18713545 (accessed 19 May 2016).Google Scholar
Law Commission of India (1958) Report 14: Reform of Judicial Administration, Vol. 1. Available at http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/1–50/Report14Vol1.pdf (accessed 21 August 2012).Google Scholar
Naeem, F., Ayub, M., Izhar, N., et al (2005) Stigma and knowledge of depression: a survey comparing medical and non-medical students and staff in Lahore, Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 21, 155–158.Google Scholar
Nussbaum, D., Hancock, M., Turner, I., et al (2008) Fitness/competency to stand trial: a conceptual overview, review of existing instruments, and cross-validation of the Nussbaum fitness questionnaire. Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention, 8, 43–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pakistan Law Commission (1997) Report on Jail Reform. Government of Pakistan, Pakistan Law Commission.Google Scholar
Qidwai, W. & Azam, S. I. (2002) Psychiatric morbidity and perceptions on psychiatric illness among patients presenting to family physicians, in April 2001 at a teaching hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Asia Pacific Family Medicine, 1, 79–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Health Organization (2009) A Report of the Assessment of the Mental Health System in Pakistan Using the World Health Organization – Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS). Available at http://www.who.int/mental_health/pakistan_who_aims_report.pdf (accessed 14 June 2012).Google Scholar

Online resources

The Pakistan Penal Code, Act XLV of 1860, is available at http://www.fia.gov.pk/default_files/ppc.pdf (accessed 18 June 2012).Google Scholar
The Prisoners Act 1990 is available at http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/aj/prisons/standards/acts/The%20Prisoners%20Act%201900.pdf (accessed 19 June 2012).Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.