Insanity (insane automatism) Flashcards
insanity
insanity is a capacity defence,
‘labouring under a defect of reasoning’
this means being deprived of the power to reason and not just failing to use it
the common law definition of insanity is found within the m’naghten rules of 1843. these state
“the defendant must prove that at the time of the offence he was labouring under such a defect of reason, arising from a disease of the mind, that he did not know the nature and quality of the act he was doing, and if he did know It, then he did not know that what he was doing was wrong.
‘arising from a disease of the mind
this is a legal term not a medical term and it must be supported by medical evidence.
‘did not know the nature and quality of the act’
this means the physical nature and consequences of the act, not the moral quality of it. may be due to a state of unconsciousness or impaired unconsciousness or a lack of understanding or awareness due to a mental condition while conscious.
‘or if he did know it he did not know that what he was doing was wrong’
the defence will fail if the defendant understood their actions were legally wrong, even if they had a mental illness at the time of the offence
consequences of an insanity verdict
if the defendant is found not guilty be reasons of insanity then for murder the sentence is indefinite hospitalisation. for all other offences s5 of the criminal procedure act 1964 sets out three disposal options, 1) hospital order 2) supervision order 3) absolute discharge
r v Clarke
d is required to be deprived of the powers of reasoning and not simply be absent minded or confused
r v quick
the disease of mind must originate from an internal source, this was external- the insulin
r v Hennessy
the disease of mind must originate from an internal source, this was internal-the diabetes
r v Johnson
the courts ruled that the defendants condition, which prevented him from appreciating the nature of his actions, satisfied the requirements for an insanity defence
