A panel of psychiatrists will decide whether Olympic and Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius was criminally responsible for the shooting that killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, after his murder trial was postponed for his mental health to be assessed.
Pistorius will begin a 30-day psychiatric evaluation next Monday at Weskoppies hospital, a state institution in Pretoria. But Judge Thokozile Masipa agreed with the defence that the athlete should be assessed as an outpatient, attending the hospital only on weekdays between 9am and 4pm. The decision was taken in part to speed up the already delayed trial process – the wait for an inpatient bed can be several months – but has been interpreted by some observers as "preferential treatment".
Setting out the terms of Pistorius's evaluation, Masipa said: "The panel [of mental health professionals] will establish whether the accused was by mental illness or defect criminally responsible for his actions.
"The panel will also seek to establish whether Mr Pistorius was capable of appreciating the wrongfulness of his act, or of acting in accordance with an appreciation of the wrongfulness of his act."
Defence witness and forensic psychiatrist Dr Merryll Vorster had previously told the court she did not believe Pistorius was incapable of telling right from wrong. But she did express doubt over his ability to act in accordance with his understanding of right and wrong.
Pistorius denies murdering Steenkamp, claiming to have mistaken her for an intruder.