A medico legal assessment is a report that uses the results of a psychological or medical assessment to prove or disprove a legal matter. They are valuable in both civil and criminal cases. Medico legal assessments list very important info that is helpful in court cases. If an accident occurred, it lists the facts of that accident and tries to answer various questions about what took place.

What Happened

Where, when and how did the accident take place? Who was the person that caused the accident? Did this person act in a professional manner? Were there factors that influenced how this person behaved that could have been prevented? Were there things happening behind the scenes at the person’s home or job that could have negatively or positively impacted how this person behaved?

Getting to the Root

These are all the types of things that medico legal assessments try to understand and pinpoint before a court ruling is made. Once the doctor or psychologist researches and compiles pertinent information, he then provides his expert opinion about the accident or event. He makes recommendations to the court as well.

What is interesting about this report is that it is used to tell how someone’s individual behavior has a bearing on the event that took place and whether or not this person could behave in the same manner again. Does this person feel remorse for what has happened? Could he possibly do the same thing again under the same circumstances, or will the outcome change?

Who is Liable?

There are many ways in which this report is needed in court. It could be used in a personal injury case. The accident and the victim must be assessed. For instance, this is a very helpful report if an employee wants to file a personal injury claim. Chances are the insurance company will order the report from an entity that compiles this type of report.

Before the court rules on the claim, everyone on both sides will want to learn more about the accident in question. For instance, did the accident just happen naturally or did the employee do something to cause it? Once all of the facts are compiled by a third party and a medical or psychological professional presents an opinion and recommendations, the court can rule on the case.

Once a medico legal assessment is ordered by the court, an outside party consults with the individual in question and builds a psychological profile. The report is written and then presented to the court as legal evidence.