Insanity
Fitness to plead
be able to follow evidence
if not fit, trial postponed until you are fit
need to be able to instruct your defence for serious crimes
approaches
Compassion - no point in locking up person who is not morally blameworthy
Criminal Law Insanity Act 2006
not guilty for reason of insanity
need to prove you committed the act
consultant psychiatrist required to establish suffering from mental disorder at time and didn't know nature or quality of act
intoxication is not insantiy
Defence of insanity
you bear burden of proof
balance of probability
current test - jury finds person committed act and heard evidence by psychiatrist - did not comprehend nature of the act
mental processes has to be outside scope for normal people
test at common law
Doyle v Wicklow youth set fire to abbatoir to stop humans eating animals - irresistible impulse can be a defence
M'Naghten - is accused prevented by disease of the mind from knowing nature and quality of act is wrong
nature and quality of act
R v Dickie - accused was a depressed psychotic, understood he was setting fire to basket, didn't realise it would start fires in other places - insanity left to the jury and was convicted
O didn't understand concept of killing her children, had mental illness, didn't understand they were death
Knowledge act is wrong
R v windle - gave suicidal wife 100 asperin, believed right thing to do, knew against law - no insanity question as knew wwhat he was doing was wrong
click to edit
Stapleton did accused know conduct wrong according to standards adopted by reasonable man
irresistible impulse
Attorney General v Brown irresistable a factor, not enough to be sole factor for insanity
DPP v Courtney - must be actually irresistible, not just diminished self-control or weakened rsistance
diminished responsibility
halfway defence not insane, but substantially impaired
defendant has to prove defence - constitution challenge failed
duration of detention
2006 - reviewed by doctors which is reviewed by independent tribunal who can order the release