04.01.2015 Views

Crimes Mental Impairment consultation paper.pdf - Victorian Law ...

Crimes Mental Impairment consultation paper.pdf - Victorian Law ...

Crimes Mental Impairment consultation paper.pdf - Victorian Law ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

B<br />

Appendix B: Jurisdictional comparison of mental impairment<br />

definitions<br />

Jurisdiction Legislation Definition<br />

s 7.3(1) – A person is not criminally responsible for an offence if, at the time of carrying out the<br />

conduct constituting the offence, the person was suffering from a mental impairment that had the<br />

effect that:<br />

Commonwealth Criminal Code ACT<br />

1995 (Cth)<br />

a) the person did not know the nature and quality of the conduct; or<br />

b) the person did not know that the conduct was wrong (that is, the person could not reason with<br />

a moderate degree of sense and composure about whether the conduct, as perceived by reasonable<br />

people, was wrong); or<br />

c) the person was unable to control the conduct.<br />

s 7.3(8) – mental impairment includes senility, intellectual disability, mental illness, brain damage and<br />

severe personality disorder.<br />

s 7.3(9) – mental illness is a reference to an underlying pathological infirmity of the mind, whether<br />

of long or short duration and whether permanent or temporary, but does not include a condition<br />

that results from the reaction of a healthy mind to extraordinary external stimuli. However, such a<br />

condition may be evidence of a mental illness if it involves some abnormality and is prone to recur.<br />

‘mentally ill’<br />

s 38(1) – If, in an indictment or information, an act or omission is charged against a person as an<br />

offence and it is given in evidence on the trial of the person for the offence that the person was<br />

mentally ill, so as not to be responsible, according to law, for his or her action at the time when the<br />

act was done or omission made, then, if it appears to the jury before which the person is tried that<br />

the person did the act or made the omission charged, but was mentally ill at the time when the<br />

person did or made the same, the jury must return a special verdict that the accused person is not<br />

guilty because of mental illness.<br />

New South Wales <strong>Mental</strong> Health<br />

(Forensic Provisions)<br />

Act 1990 (NSW)<br />

215

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!