Psychological opinions in cases of suspected sexual abuse of minors

Abstract

In cases of sexual abuse of the minors, psychological opinions are often crucial for the decisions
taken by the juridical authorities. In practice, however, more and more objections are raised
further to the principles of the conclusions formulated by the experts and the procedure of the
examination. The article discusses the main issues concerning the principles for the development
of an expert’s opinion in the light of the envisaged legal formal and substantive requirements. In
addition, attention was drawn to some specific problems for issuing psychological opinions.