The truth and nothing but the truth: court-appointed forensic experts’ experience with testifying and their perceptions of legal actors in criminal courts

We examined forensic psychiatric experts’ experiences in providing court testimony and their cooperation with legal professionals, with 147 forensic psychiatric experts (psychologists and psychiatrists) responding to an online survey. Most experts reported that they liked their work, and were satisfied with their cooperation with the court, though their worst fear was that they themselves may commit errors. The experts reported that the most relevant questions in court came from the judges, followed by questions from the prosecutors. Leading and aggressively formulated questions were most often characterized as poor and irrelevant types of questions, particularly when they come from attorneys. Most experts preferred structured and prepared practitioners, while only 35% of the experts used special presentation techniques themselves to deliver their testimonies in court, thereby leaving a clear potential for an improvement in communication.