Among solutions in regard of threatening or violent behaviors perpetrated by psychiatric patients, prosecution is an option often disregarded, but potentially beneficial. Can we define guidelines for the selection of the prosecution option? What steps should be followed in its application? To answer these questions, we felt essential to reflect in the first place on the role of reprobation in psychiatry. Advantages and drawbacks of the prosecution process will then be dealth with ultimately, we will illustrate the application of prosecution as conceptualized by the Clinique de dangerosité de l'Institut Philippe Pinel de Montréal.