Criminal Liability for Psychiatric Deaths: A Comparative Analysis of Caregiver Accountability in England and Wales, Portugal, and Brazil

Abstract

This article examines the legal frameworks governing criminal liability for caregivers whose negligent conduct results in the preventable deaths of individuals with documented psychiatric conditions. Through comparative doctrinal analysis of three jurisdictions—England and Wales, Portugal, and Brazil—the article argues that existing legal mechanisms for caregiver accountability, while theoretically available, remain underutilised and require reform. The analysis focuses on a specific target class of cases meeting four limiting principles: documented psychiatric diagnosis with clear foreseeability of fatal risk, a duty of care legally imposed or voluntarily assumed, a gross departure from reasonable protective measures, and causation framed as a material contribution to a foreseeable fatal risk.