Trial of Lunatics Act 1883

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Trial of Lunatics Act 1883
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (Variant 1, 2022).svg
Long title An Act to amend the Law respecting the Trial and Custody of Insane Persons charged with offences.
Citation 46 & 47 Vict. c. 38
Territorial extent 
  • England and Wales
  • Ireland
Dates
Royal assent 25 August 1883
Commencement 25 August 1883
Status: Amended
Revised text of statute as amended

The Trial of Lunatics Act 1883 (46 & 47 Vict. c. 38) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, allowing the jury to return a verdict that the defendant was guilty, but insane at the time, and should be kept in custody as a "criminal lunatic". [1] This act was passed at the request of Queen Victoria, who, the target of frequent attacks by mentally ill individuals, demanded that the verdict be changed from "not guilty" so as to act as a deterrent to other lunatics; the phrasing of "guilty of the act or omission charged, but insane so as not to be responsible, according to law, for his actions" remained in use until the Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964. [2]

Contents

It was cited in 1991 in the case of R v Burgess regarding the automatism defence. [3]

The form of special verdict provided for by this act was commonly known as guilty but insane. This expression was not an accurate description of that verdict. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<i>R v Burgess</i>

R v Burgess [1991] 2 QB 92 was an appeal in the Court of Appeal of England and Wales that adjudged sleepwalking entailing violence from an internal, organic cause amounts to insane automatism. At first instance Burgess was likewise found not guilty by reason of insanity as his case fell under the M'Naghten Rules. This would entail a possible stigma and a treatment plan. His defence team appealed arguing such automatism was no form of 'insanity' but fell within the class of automatism such as a spiked drink which could show a complete lack of mens rea, outside the realms of normal mental health, to make him guilty. The court ruled that violent sleepwalking with no external triggers was considered insane automatism. Thus the appeal was heard, argued, the law and its consequences judicially considered. The appeal was dismissed.

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<i>R v Bourke</i>

In Rex v Bourke, an important case in South African criminal law, the Transvaal Provincial Division (TPD) held that, under Roman-Dutch law, drunkenness is, as a general rule, no defence to a crime, although it may be a reason for mitigation of punishment. If the drunkenness is not voluntary—that is, if not caused by an act of the accused—and results in rendering the accused unconscious of what he was doing, he would not be responsible in law for an act done while in such a state. If constant drunkenness has induced a state of mental disease rendering the accused unconscious of his act at the time, he is not responsible and can be declared insane. Where a special intention is necessary to constitute a particular offence, drunkenness might reduce the crime from a more serious to a less serious one.

References

  1. Crotty, Homer D. (1924). "The History of Insanity as a Defence to Crime in English Criminal Law". California Law Review . University of California, Berkeley School of Law. 12 (2): 120. ISSN   0008-1221.
  2. White, Stephen (1985). "The Insanity Defense in England and Wales Since 1843". Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. American Academy of Political and Social Science. 477: 45. doi:10.1177/0002716285477001005. ISSN   0002-7162.
  3. "Criminal law; insanity -- R v Burgess". Law Society Gazette. 22 May 1991. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  4. The Royal Commission on Capital Punishment (1949–1953). Report. Cmd 8932. HMSO. 1953. Paragraph 458 at page 157.