Capacity To Conform to the Law - A Key to Responsibility (From Perspectives in Criminal Law, P 132-148, 1984, Anthony N Doob and Edward L Greenspan, eds. - See NCJ-99791)

• NCJ Number: 99795
• Author(s): P J T O'Hearn
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 17 pages
• Sale Source: Canada Law Book
• Language: English
• Country: Canada

Annotation

This essay examines the principle of criminal responsibility developed within Canadian jurisprudence and its application to related issues such as the insanity defense, mens rea, age of criminal responsibility, diminished capacity, and culpability for crimes committed while drunk.

Abstract

The principle of criminal responsibility exists to determine those who are subject to the criminal law and those who are not. It focuses on a person's capacity to conform to the law. When the principle of criminal responsibility is applied to the insanity defense, it should be applicable to whatever psychological perspectives are presented in evidence. Should a person be determined mentally incapable of conforming to the law, regardless of criminal intent or knowledge of the wrongness of the act, the person's conduct must be controlled by means other than criminal sanctions. In Canadian law, the case of D.P.P. v. Beard resulted in the court's using the term 'incapable' as the criterion for excluding a person from criminal culpability. This understanding of criminal responsibility not only has implications for the insanity defense, but also for cases involving intoxication and immaturity. 54 references.