Psychiatry and the Law: Medico-Legal Expertise in Mental Health: 31

There is no systematization and standardization in the concepts and practices related to
mental health in its relationship with legal medicine, so I do not intend for this book to be a
guide to follow. Rather, this effort substantially aims at building a common language and
procedures and generating methods that allow us to approach our reason for being with
impartiality and objectivity: supporting justice and its users, materialized through the analysis
and understanding of the multiple variables that affect human behavior and determine an
outcome.
It is important to remember that knowledge is dynamic, which is why this work constitutes a
starting point. Therefore, I hope it will be enriched by the abundant experience derived from
attending to the thousands of victims and perpetrators who pass through our hands year after
year.
Finally, I must reiterate how our activity plays a transcendent role in the search for truth, as we
experts act as the eyes of justice. For this reason, our analysis criteria must be founded on
scientific and technical rigor, on permanent observation, maintaining the highest ethical
commitment that brings us closer to understanding phenomena with objectivity and that instills
in us the courage and determination to issue concepts free from pressure or bias. The search
for truth is not exhausted in manuals or schemes; these are only means, almost always
imperfect, that help us in our effort to investigate and conclude.
Thank you,

Alexander Gómez Pérez