|
In criminal law, diminished responsibility (or diminished capacity) is a potential defense by excuse by which defendants argue that although they broke the law, they should not be held criminally liable for doing so, as their mental functions were "diminished" or impaired. The defence's acceptance in American jurisdictions vary considerably. The majority of states have adopted it by statute or case decision, and a minority even recognise broader defences such as 'irresistible impulse.' Some American states restrict the defence to the charge of murder only where a successful defence will result in a manslaughter conviction instead of murder. Until recently, the Republic of Ireland did not accept the partial defence. The Irish Supreme Court had rejected the existence of the defence in The People (DPP) v Joseph O' Mahony [1984] ILRM 244. The case was recently abrogated, however, by enactment of the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006, effective 1 June 2006. The act, in pertinent part, specifically adopted the partial defence for the charge of murder where a successful defence will result in a manslaughter conviction instead of murder. Image File history File links Scale_of_justice. ...
This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ...
Actual innocence is the most widely used - yet often the least studied - defense to crime. ...
In jurisprudence, an excuse or justification is a form of immunity which must be distinguished from an exculpation. ...
Mistaken Identity may refer to albums: Mistaken Identity (Kim Carnes album) Mistaken Identity (Delta Goodrem album) This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ...
A frameup refers to the act of framing someone, that is, providing false evidence in order to prove someone guilty of a crime. ...
Falsified evidence, forged evidence or tainted evidence is used to either convict an innocent person, or to guarantee conviction of a guilty person. ...
False Confession was a hardcore punk band in the early 1980s that emerged in the Oxnard, California area. ...
Automatism is a disassociative state where the individual suffering from it has no control over their actions. ...
The defense of infancy is a form of defense known as an excuse so that defendants falling within the definition of an infant are excluded from criminal liability for their actions, if at the relevant time, they had not reached an age of criminal responsibility. ...
In jurisprudence, entrapment is a procedural defense by which a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for actions which broke the law, because they were induced (or entrapped) by the police to commit said acts. ...
In a criminal trial, the insanity defenses are possible defenses by excuse, via which defendants may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law, as they were mentally ill at the time of their allegedly criminal actions. ...
In criminal law of commonwealth countries, the defense of mental disorder - sometimes called the defence of mental illness - is a legal defence by excuse, by which a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law, as they were at the time of their...
The MNaghten Rules are used to establish insanity as an excuse to potential criminal liability, but the definitional criteria establish insanity in the legal and not the psychological sense. ...
Mistake of law is a defense sometimes raised in criminal cases, although rarely with any success. ...
Mistake of law and mistake of fact are two types of defense by excuse, via which a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law or liable for damages under a civil law action. ...
An intoxication defense, in criminal law, is a defense by excuse, via which a defendant argues that they should not be held criminally liable for actions which broke the law, because they were intoxicated. ...
This article and defense of property deal with the legal concept of excused (sometimes termed justified) acts that might otherwise be illegal. ...
In the criminal law, consent may be an excuse and prevent the defendant from incurring liability for what was done. ...
For English law on the criminal defence, see duress in English law. ...
This article is about the law definition of necessity. ...
For the country-specific law, see provocation in English law. ...
Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of statutory and common law that deals with crime and the legal punishment of criminal offenses. ...
Criminal procedure refers to the legal process for adjudicating claims that someone has violated the criminal law. ...
A contract is any promise or set of promises made by one party to another for the breach of which the law provides a remedy. ...
In the common law, a tort is a civil wrong for which the law provides a remedy. ...
This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
The law of trusts and estates is generally considered the body of law which governs the management of personal affairs and the disposition of property of an individual in anticipation and the event of such persons incapacity or death, also known as the law of successions in civil law. ...
The law of evidence governs the use of testimony (e. ...
Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of statutory and common law that deals with crime and the legal punishment of criminal offenses. ...
In most litigation under the common law adversarial system the defendant, perhaps with the assistance of counsel, may allege or present defenses (or defences) in order to avoid liability, civil or criminal. ...
In jurisprudence, an excuse or justification is a form of immunity which must be distinguished from an exculpation. ...
A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute. ...
Lady Justice or Justitia is a personification of the moral force that underlies the legal system (particularly in Western art). ...
Crime is the current Good Article Collaboration of the week! Please help to improve this article to the highest of standards. ...
In the most general sense, a liability is anything that is a hindrance, or puts individuals at a disadvantage. ...
June 1 is the 152nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (153rd in leap years), with 213 days remaining. ...
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
Discussion
This is an aspect of a more general insanity defense (see the M'Naghten Rules). Peter Arenella, in the Columbia Law Review (1977 p.830), stated, "the defense [of diminished responsibility]...was first recognized by Scottish common law to reduce the punishment of the 'partially insane'." It developed from the practice of juries in the 19th century of returning verdicts of guilty with a recommendation as to mercy or mitigation of sentence to reflect any extenuating circumstances. In a series of decisions, given mainly by Lord Deas, a doctrine grew that various types of mental weakness could have the effect of reducing what would otherwise be a conviction for murder (which attracted capital punishment) to one for culpable homicide (where the courts had greater discretion in sentencing). An example of a "diminished capacity" might be extremely low intelligence. In the English case of R v Raven (1982) Crim. LR 51 a man who had a physical age of 22 years but a mental age of only 9 years was provoked by homosexual attacks and killed the attacker. His mental deficiency was not in dispute and, since a child of 9 years would not have been criminally responsible (see s50 Children and Young Persons Act 1933), and his mental responsibility for his acts was substantially impaired, manslaughter was the only realistic verdict. The rationale of the defense is that, as a precondition to punishment, the criminal law requires conduct to be voluntary. If something interferes with the capacity of the individual to choose to break the law, this should be reflected by an excuse or exculpation. The law should balance the need to be fair to the individual wrongdoer, but equally offer some protection to society from a person who may not have complete control over their behavior. In a criminal trial, the insanity defenses are possible defenses by excuse, via which defendants may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law, as they were mentally ill at the time of their allegedly criminal actions. ...
The MNaghten Rules are used to establish insanity as an excuse to potential criminal liability, but the definitional criteria establish insanity in the legal and not the psychological sense. ...
The Columbia Law Review is a law review edited and published entirely by students at Columbia Law School. ...
For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ...
Motto (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity Wha daur meddle wi me?(Scots)1 Anthem (Multiple unofficial anthems) Scotlands location in Europe Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic, Scots3 Government Constitutional monarchy - Queen Queen Elizabeth II - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP - First Minister Jack McConnell...
This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ...
Look up Punishment in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. ...
Intelligence is the mental capacity to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend ideas and language, and learn. ...
Look up Punishment in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Young people interacting within an ethnically diverse society. ...
The effect of the defense varies between the jurisdictions. In some, it will result in full excuse and therefore produce a verdict of "not guilty". In others, it offers only exculpation to a degree, resulting in the substitution of a lesser offence (e.g., manslaughter instead of murder) or a mitigated sentence. In law, jurisdiction (from the Latin ius, iuris meaning law and dicere meaning to speak) is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area...
In criminal law, guilt is entirely externally defined by the state, or more generally a “court of law. ...
In law, a sentence forms the final act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. ...
California was the first state in the U.S. to adopt the diminished capacity defense, beginning with People v. Wells, 202 P.2d 53 (1949), and People v. Gorshen, 336 P.2d 492 (1959)[1]. The doctrine would soon be abolished by ballot initiative in 1982 following the negative publicity surrounding the "Twinkie" case. Currently, the California Penal Code states (2002), "The defense of diminished capacity is hereby abolished ... there shall be no defense of diminished capacity, diminished responsibility, or irresistible impulse..." Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area Ranked 3rd - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²) - Width 250 miles (400 km) - Length 770 miles (1,240 km) - % water 4. ...
In political science, the initiative (also known as popular or citizens initiative) provides a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote on a proposed statute, constitutional amendment, charter amendment or ordinance. ...
In jurisprudence, Twinkie defense is a derogatory label for a criminal defendants claims that some unusual biological factor entered into the causes or motives of the alleged crime, and that due to this biological factor, either they should not be held criminally liable for actions which broke the law...
The California Penal Code forms the basis for the application of criminal law in the American state of California. ...
For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ...
In jurisprudence, irresistible impulse is a defense by excuse, in this case some sort of insanity, in which the defendant argues that they should not be held criminally liable for actions which broke the law, because they couldnt control their actions. ...
English law - For the full page, see diminished responsibility in English law
For the law in other criminal jurisdictions, see diminished responsibility. ...
Scottish law During the course of the 20th century the courts began to limit the mental conditions falling within diminished responsibility. In HM Advocate v Savage (1923) JC 49 Lord Alness addressed the jury (at 51): - It is very difficult to it put in a phrase, but it has been put in this way: that there must be aberration or weakness of mind; that there must be some form of mental unsoundness; that there must be a state of mind which is bordering on, though not amounting to, insanity; that there must be a mind so affected that responsibility is diminished from full responsibility to partial responsibility. In other words, the prisoner in question must be only partially accountable for his actions. And I think one can see running through the cases that there is implied ... that there must be some form of mental disease.
This statement became the authoritative version of the test for diminished responsibility and the various factors mentioned by Lord Alness were regarded as being cumulative in nature. The effect was that the test became difficult to satisfy, and the courts adopted the position that the scope of the plea was not to be further widened (e.g. Carraher v HM Advocate (1946) JC 108 held that the plea was not available to a person suffering from psychopathic personality. But in Galbraith v HM Advocate (2002) JC 1 it was held that the formula in Savage was not to be read in a narrow sense, and it was not necessary that all the criteria in that formula had to be present. Furthermore, although the plea had to be based on some form of mental abnormality, that condition need not be one bordering on insanity. Instead the court ruled that diminished responsibility required the existence of an abnormality of mind which had the effect that the accused's ability to determine or control his actings was substantially impaired. However, the Court excluded from the scope of the plea: - any condition brought on by the consumption of drink or drugs, and
- psychopathic personality disorder.
At present, Diminished Responsibility exists as a statutory partial defence in most Australian jurisdictions. The defence is only available in cases of murder and serves to reduce the offence to manslaughter.
For a comprehensive summary, see Law Commission. Partial Defences to Murder: Overseas Studies Consultation Paper No 173 (Appendices) [2]
See also Bernard L. Diamond Bernard L. Diamond M.D. (1912-1990) was a Professor of law and psychiatry at the University of California, Berkeley. ...
In jurisprudence, Twinkie defense is a derogatory label for a criminal defendants claims that some unusual biological factor entered into the causes or motives of the alleged crime, and that due to this biological factor, either they should not be held criminally liable for actions which broke the law...
References - Boland, F, Diminished Responsibility as a Defence in Irish Law, (1995) 5 Irish Criminal Law Journal 193.
- Boland, F, Diminished Responsibility as a Defence in Irish Law: Past English Mistakes and Future Irish Directions, (1996) 5 Irish Criminal Law Journal 19.
- Butler Committee (1975) The Butler Committee on Mentally Abnormal Offenders (London: HMSO) Cmnd 6244.
- Dell, S, Diminished Responsibility Reconsidered, (1982) CLR 809.
- Griew, E, Reducing Murder to Manslaughter: Whose Job? (1986) 12 Journal of Medical Ethics 18.
- Griew, E, The Future of Diminished Responsibility, (1988) CLR 75.
- Scottish Law Commission. Discussion Paper on Insanity and Diminished Responsibility. Discussion Paper No 122. (2003) [3]
|
Feeds |
Contact