automatism Flashcards
what is automatism?
when a person’s consciousness is so impaired that they’re acting in a state of physical involuntariness, so cannot be held responsible for their actions as there is no mens rea
what is the evidential burden of proof, legal burden of proof and result of automatism?
-evidential is on defence to prove automatism
-legal is on prosecution
-complete acquittal
what is necessary for automatism?
-must be an external factor, eg being struck on the head
-must be a total loss of control (partial/reduced/impaired invalidates it)
what is self-induced automatism?
-if the defendant knows their conduct will bring about an autonomic state, the defence isn’t available
-in such a situation, the d will usually have a defence to specific intent, but not to basic intent
-exception = the defendant didn’t know their conduct would cause automatism
key cases on automatism
-r v t (external factor)
-A-G Reference No2 1992 (total loss of control)
-McGhee (self-induced)
reform proposals for automatism
law commission (criminal liability : insanity and automatism 2013)
-abolish current defence, replace with ‘automatism triggered only when there is a total loss of capacity to control ones own actions which is not caused by a recognised medical condition)
-new ‘recognised medical condition’ defence, for people with diabetes/epilepsy etc
-successful outcome of new defence = total acquittal