Ronald Roesch is a professor of psychology at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada.
His dissertation was titled “Competency to Stand Trial: An Analysis of Legal/Mental Health Issues and Procedures and a Proposal for Change.” Following completion of his PhD in 1977 he accepted a faculty position at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in British Columbia, Canada, where he is currently Professor of Psychology and Director of the Mental Health, Law, and Policy Institute.
Roesch's primary research focuses on the assessment of a criminal defendant's competence (fitness) to stand trial.
Roesch has authored over 175 articles and book chapters, and 15 books on his research on competency to stand trial, criminal responsibility, jail mental health assessment and interventions, risk assessment of young offenders, and the capacity of young offenders to understand and waive arrest rights.
He has been frustrated by the slow progress, but was encouraged when in 2017, he and a number of his Canadian colleagues were appointed to a Task Force by the Canadian Psychological Association to develop a strategy to change this law and have subsequently published an article[8] summarizing the rationale and empirical basis for this change.