CHAPTERS 5 & 6 Flashcards
S21 children under 10
No person shall be convicted of an offence by reason of any act done or omitted by him when under the age of 10
S22 children 10 to 14
No person shall be convicted of an offence by reason of any act done or omitted by him when of the age of 10 but under the age of 14 years, unless he knew that either the act or ommision was wrong or that it was contrary to law.
Young person commits murder/manslaughter steps
- Charges filed in district Court
- First appearance at youth court
- Automatically transfers for trial & sentencing @ high court
S23 Insanity Defence: balance of probabilities
No person shall be convicted…. if incapable of
- understanding the nature and quality of the act or omission
- knowing the act or omission was morally wrong, having regard to the commonly accepted standards of right and wrong
MCNAUGHTENS RULES (disease of mind = judge)
Based on a person’s ability to think rationally, so that if a person is insane they were acting under such a defective of reason from a disease of the mind that they did not know:
- nature and quality of their actions
- that what they were doing was wrong
AUTOMATISM incl drugs/alc
State of total blackout during which a person is not conscious of their actions and not in control of them.
Court may be reluctant to accept actions were involuntary or offender lacked intention if include drugs or alcohol
Sane/insane automatism
Sane - result of sleepwalking, blue to head, drugs
Insane - mental disease
Strict liability offence
No mens rea needs to be proven by the prosecution
Automatism - NZ courts
Middle course
- allow defence arising from A out of taking drugs for basic intent only
- disallow defence where obviously self induced, person blame worthy, consequences expected
Dutch courage
In cases of homicide or other crimes, if intent formed first then drinking as part of method of committing crime (gaining Dutch courage) a defence of automatism or drunkenness is disqualified
S25 ignorance of law OIL EOCH
The fact an offender is ignorant of a law is not an excuse for an offence committed by him.
