Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Final Master's Degree Project
Other languages of instruction: Catalan, English
Teaching staff
For the adequate monitoring and development of the TFM, it is recommended to have the supervision of the assigned tutor and it is convenient to hold periodic counseling interviews in which personal goals and objectives are specified; progress is made in the purification of the methodological approach and selection of the relevant bibliography, etc. For this purpose, at the beginning of the second semester a tutor will be appointed to each student.
Likewise, those responsible for the TFM will supervise the development of the TFMs, regardless of the periods already established and the scheduled sessions, with meetings of tutors and, according to need, also with the students.
Dra. Esperanza Gómez Durán (elgomez@uic.es)
Introduction
The Final Master's Project (hereinafter, TFM) is an annual subject that is placed in the context of a postgraduate degree whose training is preeminently oriented to the acquisition of interdisciplinary skills of a practical nature or applied to expert assessment.
Through the Final Master’s Project, the student is offered the opportunity to start in the skills of preparation of experts, so that they come to develop and put into practice the theoretical-practical knowledge and the skills and abilities that are intended to achieve in the curriculum of the degree as a whole.
Pre-course requirements
N/A
Objectives
Understand and independently develop the formal aspects and content requirements of an expert psychiatric-psychological expert opinion, both from the perspective of the expert and the jurists who require it.
Learning outcomes of the subject
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The graduate will be able to report his or her conclusions, knowledge and ultimate rationale to specialized and non-specialized audiences in a clear and unambiguous manner.
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The graduate will be able to use the acquired learning skills to continue studying in a largely self-directed or autonomous manner.
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The graduate will be able to adequately develop the methodology and processes involved in the evaluation and development of a forensic case.
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The graduate will be able to defend the expert's report in a scientifically argued and formally correct way in aptitude and attitude before the court.
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The graduate will be able to detail the concepts of psychopathology applied to the forensic and judicial field. The graduate will be able to evaluate the case study through the use of psychopathological concepts considering the what, the how, the when, the where and the why of the case studies.
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The graduate will be able to communicate in an understandable way, orally or in writing, the scientific-technical psychopathological-forensic and/or legal knowledge in relation to psychopathological aspects in the legal field.
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The graduate will be able to examine documents with criminal-legal relevance related to psychopathological aspects (judgments, orders, forensic-medical and expert reports).
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The graduate will be able to apply the abstract legal categories to concrete cases, in such a way that scientific-technical and legal knowledge in the field is adequately related.
Syllabus
The content of the TFM sessions includes face-to-face sessions in which expert methodology, scientific and jurisprudential foundations and practical training in the skills required to prepare an expert opinion/report are addressed.
Apart from this session, the material content of the student's TFM depends, to a large extent, on the student's choice. However, it is an essential condition that it is related -directly or indirectly- to one of the topics covered in the subjects of the degree and that it has a sufficient forensic foundation (including the corresponding bibliographical and jurisprudential review in this regard).
During the academic year the student must identify a suitable case for the elaboration of a forensic expert opinion, collect the necessary information about the case, elaborate a logical, reasoned and scientifically based argumentation of the chosen forensic object and formally translate it into a written expert opinion that will be defended in an oral trial simulation (providing the bibliographic and jurisprudential search material attached).
Teaching and learning activities
In person
The methodology of the subject includes a face-to-face session in which the generalities of the expert evidence, its structure in form and the revision of the initial expert outline are addressed, in which the student is initiated in the preparation of an expert opinion based on practical scenarios.
The methodology for carrying out the work is that of expert work.
The work of the student will be reflected in a TFM Dossier in which he will record the different steps he will develop in the preparation of the final expert: Initial Scheme, Corrected Scheme, TFM Tab, Final Expert, a Summary file of his follow-up and two anexes (scientific literature review and jurisprudence).
The evaluation includes a session -of approximately 10-15 minutes- in which the student will orally present a brief summary of the work done, through questioning, as a "role-playing" (simulation of judgment). The exhibition will be held in the month of June. The day and hours for these oral presentations will be specified during the third quarter of the course.
There is no minimum or maximum extension for the TFM: premium quality over quantity.
Evaluation systems and criteria
In person
In accordance with the competencies to be acquired in the TFM course, the main object of evaluation is the student's ability to prepare, write and defend an expert report with psychopathological implications before a court of law. In the case of legal students, everything referred to the evaluation of the expert report will be applied to the ability to adequately interpret and question in court the professionals who defend their respective expert report (with psychopathological implications).
1. Continuous evaluation. A 20% of the final grade of the course will correspond to the continuous evaluation and to the evaluation of the student's portfolio with the evolution of the work done for the TFM.
2. TFM document evaluation. Prior to the oral presentation before a Court (through role playing) of the expert report worked by the student, there will be an evaluation of the formal quality and contents of the same, including the chosen methodology, the reflections and forensic contributions and the adequacy of the conclusions, which will be graded on a numerical scale from 0 to 10 and will account for 40% of the final grade.
3. TFM evaluation and defense. In addition, the remaining 40% of the final grade will be assigned according to the specific presentation of the expert report in court, with attention to the adequate scientific and practical performance as an expert/interrogator of the student. Specifically, the following items will be evaluated: attitude, expression, content and autonomy in the expert's report.
It will be essential to pass both the evaluation of the document and the evaluation of the defense in order to pass the TFM.
Bibliography and resources
Compulsory reading:
Ortega-Monasterio L, Gómez-Durán EL. Capítulo 39. Psiquiatría jurídica y forense. En: Vallejo Ruiloba J, editor. Introducción a la psicopatología y la psiquiatría. Barcelona: Elsevier España; 2011.
Abel Lluch X, Arimany-Manso J, Gómez-Durán E.L. El dictamen médico-legal en supuestos de responsabilidad civil profesional médica: fuentes y contenido. Justicia 2014, número 2.
The remaining material resources will be developed throughout the course in a personalized way for each student, starting with an individualized expert outline and recommending to the students' bibliography adjusted to the case.