The M'Naghten Rules-The Story So far

Guilty but insane: the insanity defence in Ireland, 1850–1995

“…By the 18th century, case law provided a narrow basis for a legal defence of insanity, although the application of the defence remained somewhat haphazard. In 1843, the criteria governing the defence were formalised following the celebrated case of R. v. M'Naghten (Andoh, 1993). M'Naghten had been charged with the murder of Edward Drummond, the private secretary of the then Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel.…”

Legal frameworks and key concepts regulating diversion and treatment of mentally disordered offenders in european union member states

“…The phenomenon of criminal responsibility is underpinned by the concept of free will whereby human beings can rationally choose between right and wrong, [2,5,22,26]. Modern neurobiological research has reopened the debate as to whether abnormalities evident on functional brain imaging or neuropsychological evaluation may result in the eclipse of free will in favour of a deterministic perspective [1,9,17,21].…”