The Insanity Defence: International and Comparative Perspectives

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Ronnie Mackay (Professor, Professor, De Montfort University) Warren Brookbanks (Professor of Criminal Law and Justice Studies, Professor of Criminal Law and Justice Studies, AUT Law School)

The Insanity Defence

International and Comparative Perspectives

Ronnie Mackay (Professor, Professor, De Montfort University), Warren Brookbanks (Professor of Criminal Law and Justice Studies, Professor of Criminal Law and Justice Studies, AUT Law School)

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English

Oxford University Press
09 March 2023

Series: Oxford Monographs on Criminal Law and Justice

More than any other defence in the criminal law, the insanity defence has, and continues to be, the subject of heated debate.

Yet too little is known about how the insanity defence operates in different jurisdictions, including in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

In this book, Mackay and Brookbanks, and their team of expert contributors, explore the theory and practice around the insanity defence and analyse its diverse influence and manifestations across a wide range of common law and civil law jurisdictions.

Typically, the insanity defence, as exemplified in the M'Naghten Rules, represents a foundational aspect of criminal responsibility, although in some jurisdictions it serves only to define degrees of mental capacity.

However, what all jurisdictions have in common is the high and increasing incidence of mental illness and impairment challenging existing constructions of an exculpatory rule. This book explores in detail the origins and operation of the M'Naghten Rules as well as the eclectic nature of the insanity defence, its highly variable linguistic expression, and the diverse social policy mandates it seeks to embrace. The Insanity Defence will reinvigorate the debate about the defence by discussing both its theoretical basis and exploring how different jurisdictions approach the insanity plea, not only in relation to an appropriate test and how it operates, but also from the perspective of disposal and how those who use the insanity defence successfully are dealt with.

This book will be of interest to researchers, academics, and advanced students with an interest in criminal law internationally, as well as to those involved in the development of policy and legislation.

Edited by: Ronnie Mackay (Professor Professor De Montfort University), Warren Brookbanks (Professor of Criminal Law and Justice Studies, Professor of Criminal Law and Justice Studies, AUT Law School)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 240mm, Width: 164mm, Spine: 28mm
Weight: 772g
ISBN: 9780198854944
ISBN 10: 0198854943
Series: Oxford Monographs on Criminal Law and Justice
Pages: 416
Publication Date: 09 March 2023
Audience: Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , Undergraduate , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Ronnie Mackay, Professor of Criminal Policy and Mental Health, Leicester De Montfort Law School, De Montfort University, UK. Warren Brookbanks, Professor of Criminal Law and Justice Studies, Director of the Centre for Non-Adversarial Justice at Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand.

Reviews for The Insanity Defence: International and Comparative Perspectives

This is an illuminating collection of essays on the insanity defence, covering a variety of jurisdictions, mainly in the Anglo American common law world, but some in the civil, as well as the international criminal court and tribunals. It brings out for discussion the different approaches and many dilemmas posed to our notions of criminal responsibility when a defendant is seriously mentally disordered. It makes a strong case for reform of the law in England and Wales. It is essential reading for anyone with an interest in mental health law, whether as lawyers, psychiatrists or for any other reason. * Rt Hon the Baroness Hale of Richmond, formerly President, Supreme Court of the United Kingdom *