WA Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry CPD Dinner Event

WA Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry is delighted to welcome you to their CPD event

Date: Thursday 27 February, 6pm - 8:30pm AWST
Title: Drugs, Psychosis, Violence and Insanity

The event is free of charge and includes welcome canapes and meet and mingle style finger food after the event.

Event information

Drugs, Psychosis, Violence and Insanity

This interactive workshop will present the current state of play in WA on intoxication and the insanity defence. WA has unique laws to Australia regarding this issue. If the defendant is voluntarily intoxicated, they are excluded from an insanity defence. The courts have defined what intoxication is. There is a grey area, regarding whether drug use precipitating a psychotic episode in someone with schizophrenia sometime before the offence reaches this definition.

WA's legal interpretation of intoxication appears to be at odds with the clinical understanding. WA also appears to have a unique approach to this issue. The workshop will discuss the legal situation with Justin Whalley (DPP WA) presenting case law. Dr Andy Carroll will then present the Victorian approach to intoxication and insanity. There will then be time for discussion by attendees.

Evening format:
6pm - 6:25pm Welcome canapes
6:25pm - 6:30pm - Welcome by Faculty of Forensic Psychiatry Subcommittee Chair, Adam Brett
6:30pm - 7pm Justin Whalley - on case law for intoxication and the insanity defence- definitions of intoxication
7pm - 7:30pm - Andrew Carroll - intoxication and insanity, clinical approach in Victoria
7:30pm - 8pm - Open debate

Justin Whalley
Mr Justin Whalley SC was appointed as the State's Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions in May 2024.

Mr Whalley obtained a law degree with Honours from Southampton University in England in 1987.

He was admitted as a Barrister in 2002 and since 2009 has been a Senior Prosecutor with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) in Western Australia.

Mr Whalley SC has been a Senior Consultant State Prosecutor since February 2016, where he has routinely represented the State in the most demanding, complex and high-profile trials.

Mr Whalley SC was appointed as Senior Counsel in 2019 and has been a Senior Consultant State Prosecutor within the ODPP since 2015. As part of this role, Mr Whalley SC led a large team of prosecutors.

Andrew Carroll
Andrew Carroll is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science. He has worked as a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist in both treatment and assessment roles in Victoria since the late 1990s.

He is an experienced expert witness in both criminal and civil matters. He has particular interest in how the effects of mental disorders, and their possible causal relationships to offending behaviour, are considered by the criminal courts at sentencing. He was an expert witness in the landmark case of Brown, that radically changed how personality disorders are taken into account at sentencing in Victoria (Brown v The Queen [2020] VSCA 212).

He has co-authored a number of papers and book chapters on the role of mental health expert evidence in the criminal courts. In addition, he is Co-Director of Our Curious Minds, a training company working in the legal, mental health and psychosocial sectors.

He has a role at the Victorian Department of Health as a Deputy Chief Psychiatrist (Forensic Mental Health).

Cancellation Policy: There is no cancellation refund as this is a free event. If you cannot attend and have registered, please let us know as there are limited numbers.

Directions

On street parking is free after 5pm.

Contact

Angie Padoan, WA Branch Coordinator
Tel +61 8 6458 7801
ranzcp.wa@ranzcp.org