Évaluation du risque de récidive : de la nécessité d'une evidence-based expertise

Prevention of recidivism is a growing concern for lawmakers, which has led to an intensive legislative production for 15 years. Risk assessment of recidivism, its corollary, is entrusted to the experts, but it also concerns practitioners of mental health and coordinator physicians designated in the framework of court-ordered treatment. This probabilistic approach has been based on the clinical judgment for a long time; it is still widely the case in France. However, scientific literature has shown the limits of clinical judgment, and new approaches have been developed, based on structured judgment and actuarial approaches. Those tools must be considered as useful supplements and not as alternatives for clinical judgment, allowing ultimately a risk level assessment, which is based on the acquired data of science. Using those tools during expert mission should be appreciated in regard to the obligations of independence and skills of the experts. In the French procedural framework, an efficient expertal model should promote the adaptation and spread of those tools, a reflection on the information sharing, and a multidisciplinary and longitudinal approach of risk.