The state of being insane; unsoundness or derangement of mind; madness; lunacy.
Such a mental condition, as, either from the existence of delusions, or from incapacity to distinguish between right and wrong, with regard to any matter under action, does away with individual responsibility.
a legal term attesting that a person is not responsible for his or her own actions, including criminal behavior. (509)
A legally established inability to understand right from wrong, or to conform one’s behaviour to the requirements of the law.
Persistent mental disorder or derangement. Also, a defence allowable in criminal courts.
A degree of mental illness that negates criminal culpability.
A legal term indicating that a person committing a criminal act is unaware that s/he was acting illegally due to a mental disorder.
A complete defense to a crime; exists when at the time of the commission of the crime, the accused was not aware of the nature and quality of his or her criminal act, or if the accused did, was not aware that the act was legally wrong.
relatively permanent disorder of the mind
The inability to know what one is doing and to decide if the action is right or wrong.
A legal term, used to indicate the presence of a severe mental disorder, which negates the individual's responsibility for certain, acts, including criminal conduct. The person declared legally insane is thought to lack substantial capacity either to appreciate the wrongfulness of a criminal act or to act in conformity with the requirements of the law.
legal term that implies a lack of responsibility for one's behavior.
In a trial, a plea of insanity can be used to lessen the punishment for a crime and even help the accused escape conviction. An individual accused of a crime is presumed to be sane unless it can be proved otherwise. The defence must prove that the accused was without reason and suffering from a mental problem at the time he or she committed the crime.
A person who commits a crime may be excused from responsibility for it if he or she was legally insane at the time the crime was committed. Generally, to be legally insane, a Defendant must suffer from a mental disease or defect so severe that he or she could not understand that the act they commit is wrong.
Any mental disorder that is so severe it prevents one from having the legal capacity to commit a crime or injury and thus excuses that person from criminal or civil liability.
A degree of mental illness such that the affected person is not responsible for his/her actions or is not capable of entering into a legal contract. This term is used in legal rather than medical contexts.
Any form or degree of mental disturbance or unsoundness of mind, permanent or temporary, that makes a person incapable of rational conduct or judgment.
See Mental Capacity and Mental Responsibility.
A legal defence maintaining that a defendant was incapable of forming criminal intent because he or she suffered from a defect of reason or mental illness.
Insanity, or madness, is a general term for a semi-permanent, severe mental disorder. The concept has been used in a number of ways historically. Today it is most commonly encountered as a generic informal term, or in the more narrow legal context of criminal insanity.