Insanity as a defence in criminal law

Abstract

The following paper was read at a meeting of "The Association of Surgeons and Physicians of Malta", held under the Chairmanship of The Hon. Mr. Justice Richard Farrugia. It is a fundamental doctrine of criminal law that if a man is sane he is responsible for his criminal acts and if insane he is not responsible. Today it is well recognised that there is no clear distinction between the legally sane and the legally insane. Indeed one of the most frustrating experiences of many expert witnesses is that court officials demand impossible yes or no answers to their questions and ignore all the uncertainties and all the ambiguities of behaviour which psychiatrists have learned to accept in practice. The author`s viewpoint is that the most serious weakness in our system is the lack of flexibility in the disposal of the accused found to be insane.