Military criminal accountability and forensic Psychiatry
Keywords:
Cuba, imputability, jurisprudence, mental disorders, military personnel, primary health careAbstract
Introduction: In Cuba, in 2022, three laws came into force that together represent a comprehensive criminal reform: the Criminal Procedure Law, the Criminal Code, and the Criminal Enforcement Law.
Objective: To analyze the regulatory gaps in the Cuban Military Criminal Procedure Law regarding the non-imputability formula for mental disorders, compared to the provisions of the Cuban Criminal Procedure Law.
Opinion: The non-imputability formula for mental disorders in the Cuban Criminal Code is also applied in the Military Criminal Code, with specificities that reflect the requirements of active military service. The Manual of the Medical Services of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) establishes the legal basis for forensic medical activity, but does not include specific medical resolutions, articulated with the Military Criminal Procedure Law, for the procedures for applying non-imputability to a military member who commits a military crime and has a potential mental disorder that compromises his or her fitness for active military service.
Conclusions: The Military Penal Code recognizes the right to be held accountable for mental disorders that affect fitness for active military service, but the Criminal Procedure Law does not establish how to proceed in these cases.
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References
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