Change of court date
January 20, 2012 | 100,00 EUR | answered by Bernhard Müller
Hello, I have a question.
I have a court appointment scheduled for the coming Tuesday that I want to reschedule due to my mental health. I received the following letter from my psychiatrist:
Mr. Stefan xyz, born on ..., presented himself in my practice today to undergo outpatient psychotherapy. He suffers from panic disorder (ICD-10 F41.0) and a moderate depressive episode (F32.1) and somatization disorder (F45.0).
Due to these disorders, Mr. xyz is currently unable to participate in the scheduled court appointment on Tuesday, ...., from a psychotherapeutic perspective.
It is currently unclear when Mr. xyz will be able to participate in the proceedings, as his personality needs to be adequately stabilized through psychotherapy first.
Now my question is, is this letter sufficient for the court?
My psychiatrist mentioned that no judge can override this letter.
Thank you for your response!
Dear inquirer,
if this is the first time and if there are no actual indications that it is a courtesy certificate, this should be sufficient.
However, you should release your psychiatrist from his obligation of confidentiality towards the court, so that the court can inquire if they do not understand the medical terms in the certificate. You should fax the certificate and the declaration of releasing from confidentiality to the court now and send the original by post immediately afterwards.
If the court has already ordered in previous hearings that you need the opinion of a medical officer, your psychiatrist's certificate is not sufficient.
However, it is still important to clarify in what capacity you should appear before which court. If you are a defendant in a proceeding initiated by a penal order, it may be reasonable for you to be represented by a lawyer, so that despite the certificate, a postponement is not possible. Because then your personal presence may not necessarily be required.
Best regards,
Bernhard Müller Attorney
