Forensic psychiatry focuses on interrelationships between psychiatry and the law (civil, criminal, and administrative).

Forensic psychiatry includes the psychiatric evaluation of individuals involved with the legal system, or consultations on behalf of the third parties such as employers or insurance companies; the specialized psychiatric treatment required by those who have been incarcerated in jails, prisons, or special forensic psychiatric hospitals; active involvement in legal regulation of general psychiatric practice; and, related education and research efforts.