Reform of forensic psychiatry in the former Soviet Union

Robert van Voren's contribution to reform of forensic psychiatry within the former Soviet Union is widely acknowledged. His recent article (Psychiatric Bulletin, April 2006, 30, ) states that until recently forensic psychiatry in the former Soviet Union was ignored or deliberately avoided. This is simply not the case: links in forensic psychiatry with Britain go back even prior to the dissolution of the USSR (Gordon & Meux, 2003). It is true that political and religious dissidents were assessed at the Serbsky Institute and some thereafter detained in secure psychiatric hospitals, but that stopped over 15 years ago. van Voren is concerned that the Serbsky Institute still plays a prominent role, yet why should it not do so, having been established in 1921 and being a leading academic and clinical centre which has moved on in recent years. Russia now uses ICD-10 in line with most of the rest of the world.

I do not challenge the fact that there are some breaches of human rights and poor conditions relating to forensic psychiatry, but van Voren makes no mention of the economic context nor changes in legislation and ethical codes within Russia which have led towards a more internationally acceptable situation (Polubinskaya & Bonnie, 1996). Moreover, he does not reflect upon the fact that Russia has abolished the death penalty in line with opinion throughout Europe.