7.2.2 Psychiatric Defences

Psychiatric Defences: Fitness to Plead, Key Criminal Law Concepts, Criminal Responsibility, Diminished Responsibility, Amnesia, Automatism, Deafness and Mutism

Psychiatric defences are used in the criminal justice system to account for an offender’s mental state at the time of an offence. The most common psychiatric defences are fitness to plead, criminal responsibility, diminished responsibility, and automatism. These defences are designed to provide legal protection for mentally disordered offenders and ensure that they receive appropriate care and treatment.

Fitness to plead:

Fitness to plead is a legal test that determines whether an individual is capable of understanding the charges against them and of instructing their legal counsel. If an individual is deemed unfit to plead, they cannot stand trial and may be detained in a hospital or under a care order.

Fitness to plead (legal criteria) England and Wales: R v Pritchard (1836) 7 C&P 303: ‘Whether he can plead to the indictment … [and] … whether he is of sufficient intellect to comprehend the course of proceedings on trial, so as to make a proper defence—to know that he might challenge any of you [the jury] to whom he might object—and to comprehend the details of evidence … ’

Key criminal law concepts:

Actus Reus: The physical act or unlawful omission that constitutes a criminal offence. It refers to the external component of a crime, such as a specific action, failure to act, or a state of affairs. Understanding actus reus is crucial in criminal law because it helps determine whether a defendant’s behaviour constitutes a crime. Without actus reus, there can be no criminal liability, regardless of the presence of mens rea.

Mens Rea: The mental element or “guilty mind” required to establish criminal liability. It involves the defendant’s intention, knowledge, recklessness, or negligence at the time of committing the actus reus.

Involuntary Crime: Crimes committed without intent to cause harm, often due to recklessness or negligence. Examples include involuntary manslaughter, where a person causes death without intending to, but through careless or dangerous actions.

Voluntary Crime: Crimes committed with intent or knowledge, reflecting a deliberate choice to engage in unlawful conduct. Examples include murder, where there is intent to kill or cause serious harm.

Culpable Homicide: A broad term encompassing all unlawful killings that fall short of murder. It includes both voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, depending on the presence or absence of intent to kill or cause grievous harm.

Manslaughter: The legal term for a type of culpable homicide that is considered less severe than murder. It involves the unlawful killing of another person without the intent to cause death or grievous bodily harm. Manslaughter can be categorised into two main types: voluntary and involuntary.

Indictable Offence: Serious criminal offences that require a formal indictment and are typically tried in a higher court. Examples include murder, rape, and robbery. These offences often carry severe penalties, such as long-term imprisonment.

Criminal responsibility:

Criminal responsibility: is a defence that argues an offender was not aware of the nature and consequences of their actions at the time of the offence due to a mental disorder. If a person was mentally disordered at the time of an offence, this may affect their legal responsibility for their actions. This defence is only successful if it can be proved that the offender did not know that what they were doing was wrong at the time of the offence.

Diminished responsibility:

Diminished responsibility is a defence that suggests that an offender’s mental state at the time of the offence meant that they were not fully responsible for their actions. A finding of diminished responsibility does not result in acquittal, but in a conviction for the lesser offence of manslaughter. This defence is often used in cases where the offender was suffering from a mental illness, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

In England and Wales, under Section 2 of the Homicide Act 1957 (amended by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009), a person involved in a killing may not be convicted of murder if they were experiencing an abnormality of mind that substantially impaired their mental responsibility for their actions or omissions during the killing. This abnormality can stem from developmental issues, inherent causes, or be induced by disease or injury. In R v Byrne (1960), the term “abnormality of mind” was broadly defined as a mental state significantly different from ordinary individuals, encompassing not only the understanding of physical actions and moral judgment but also the capacity to control physical actions based on rational judgment.

Amnesia:

Amnesia can also be used as a psychiatric defence if an individual has no recollection of committing the offence due to a mental disorder or other external factors.

Automatism

Automatism is a defence that argues an offender committed an offence without any conscious thought or control due to a mental disorder or external factor. This defence is often used in cases where an offender has been sleepwalking or experiencing a dissociative state at the time of the offence.

Automatism refers to a legal defence where an individual commits an offence while their body is not under their mind’s control, such as during sleep. In England and Wales, two types of automatism are recognised: insane and sane.

Insane automatism, caused by intrinsic factors like sleepwalking, brain tumours or epilepsy, results in acquittal on the grounds of insanity.
Sane automatism, caused by extrinsic factors like confusional states, concussion, reflex actions after bee stings, dissociative states, night terrors, and hypoglycaemia, leads to complete acquittal.

This distinction is now less significant due to a range of disposals available for those found insane. In Scotland, sane automatism is recognized only when an external factor causes a dissociated state of mind. After a person is acquitted on the grounds of insanity, the disposal process is the same as that following a finding of unfitness to plead with facts in England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

Deafness and mutism:

Deafness and mutism can also be used as psychiatric defences. In cases where an individual is deaf or mute, it may be difficult for them to communicate effectively with legal counsel or the court and may require special accommodations.

*Psychiatric Defences*	*Explanation*
Fitness to Plead	A legal test determines if an individual can understand the charges against them and instruct their legal counsel. If an individual is deemed unfit to plead, they cannot stand trial and may be detained in a hospital or under a care order.
Criminal Responsibility	A defence that argues an offender was not aware of the nature and consequences of their actions at the time of the offence due to a mental disorder.
Diminished Responsibility	A defence that suggests an offender’s mental state at the time of the offence meant that they were not fully responsible for their actions. This defence is often used in cases where the offender was suffering from a mental illness, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
Automatism	A defence that argues an offender committed an offence without any conscious thought or control due to a mental disorder or external factor.
Deafness and Mutism	Can be used as a psychiatric defence in cases where an individual is deaf or mute, and may require special accommodations.
Amnesia	Can be used as a psychiatric defence if an individual has no recollection of committing the offence due to a mental disorder or other external factors.

In conclusion, psychiatric defences play a significant role in the criminal justice system and provide legal protection for mentally disordered offenders. The successful use of these defences often requires a detailed understanding of the individual’s mental state at the time of the offence and may involve the provision of expert testimony and evidence from psychiatrists.