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Butler Committee
The Committee on Mentally Abnormal Offenders, widely referred to as the Butler Committee after its chairman Lord Butler of Saffron Walden, was set up in 1972 by the Government of the United Kingdom. The Committee submitted an Interim Report in 1974 and published a Final Report in October 1975, proposing major reforms to the law and to psychiatric services. Terms of reference The Committee was set up jointly by the Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Security, and given a wide remit to investigate the current law, hear the views of relevant parties, and propose reforms. The official terms of reference, which covered England and Wales, were: (a) To consider to what extent and on what criteria the law should recognise mental disorder or abnormality in a person accused of a criminal offence as a factor affecting his liability to be tried or convicted, and his disposal; (b) To consider what, if any, changes are necessary in the powers, procedure and facilities rel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rab Butler
Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden, (9 December 1902 – 8 March 1982), also known as R. A. Butler and familiarly known from his initials as Rab, was a prominent British Conservative Party politician. ''The Times'' obituary called him "the creator of the modern educational system, the key-figure in the revival of post-war Conservatism, arguably the most successful chancellor since the war and unquestionably a Home Secretary of reforming zeal". He was one of his party's leaders in promoting the post-war consensus through which the major parties largely agreed on the main points of domestic policy until the 1970s, sometimes known as "Butskellism" from a fusion of his name with that of his Labour counterpart Hugh Gaitskell. Born into a family of academics and Indian administrators, Butler had a distinguished academic career before entering Parliament in 1929. As a junior minister, he helped to pass the Government of India Act 1935. He strongly supported the ap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psychiatric Hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative identity disorder, major depressive disorder and many others. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialize only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients. Others may specialize in the temporary or permanent containment of patients who need routine assistance, treatment, or a specialized and controlled environment due to a psychiatric disorder. Patients often choose voluntary commitment, but those whom psychiatrists believe to pose significant danger to themselves or others may be subject to involuntary commitment and involuntary treatment. Psychiatric hospitals may also be called psychiatric wards/units (or "psych" wards/units) when they are a subunit of a regular hospital. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Criminal Law
English criminal law concerns offences, their prevention and the consequences, in England and Wales. Criminal conduct is considered to be a wrong against the whole of a community, rather than just the private individuals affected. The state, in addition to certain international organisations, has responsibility for crime prevention, for bringing the culprits to justice, and for dealing with convicted offenders. The police, the criminal courts and prisons are all publicly funded services, though the main focus of criminal law concerns the role of the courts, how they apply criminal statutes and common law, and why some forms of behaviour are considered criminal. The fundamentals of a crime are a guilty act (or ''actus reus'') and a guilty mental state (or ''mens rea''). The traditional view is that moral culpability requires that a defendant should have recognised or intended that they were acting wrongly, although in modern regulation a large number of offences relating to road ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Automatism (law)
In criminal law, automatism is a rarely used criminal defence. It is one of the mental condition defences that relate to the mental state of the defendant. Automatism can be seen variously as lack of voluntariness, lack of culpability (unconsciousness) or excuse. Automatism means that the defendant was not aware of his or her actions when making the particular movements that constituted the illegal act. For example, Esther Griggs in 1858 threw her child out of a first floor window believing that the house was on fire, while having a sleep terror. In 2002, Peter Buck, lead guitarist of the band R.E.M., was cleared of several charges, including assault, which resulted from automatism brought on by a bad interaction between alcohol and sleeping pills. In a 2009 case in Aberporth in west Wales, Brian Thomas strangled his wife in their camper van, also during a sleep terror, when he mistook his wife for an intruder. The defence of automatism is denying that the person was acting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Law Commission
A law commission, law reform commission, or law revision commission is an independent body set up by a government to conduct law reform; that is, to consider the state of laws in a jurisdiction and make recommendations or proposals for legal changes or restructuring. The first term is prevalent in the United Kingdom, the second is prevalent in the Commonwealth, and the third one is prevalent in the United States. Work The functions of a law commission body include drafting revised versions of confusing laws, preparing consolidated versions of laws, making recommendations on updating outdated laws and making recommendations on repealing obsolete or spent laws. Law commissions often undertake projects focusing on legislation, although their mandates may be narrower or broader. List of law commissions *: Australian Law Reform Commission *: the Law Commission of Canada was established by the Law Commission of Canada Act on July 1, 1997 and was eliminated in 2006. It replaced the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Criminal Procedure Act
Criminal Procedure Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation relating to criminal procedure in Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa and the United Kingdom. The Bill for an Act with this short title may have been known as a Criminal Procedure Bill during its passage through Parliament. Criminal Procedure Acts may be a generic name either for legislation bearing that short title or for all legislation which relates to criminal procedure. List Hong Kong * The Criminal Procedure Ordinance 1899 Malaysia *The Criminal Procedure Code New Zealand *The Criminal Procedure Act 2011 *The Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act 2003 Republic of Ireland *The Criminal Procedure Act 2010 *The Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act 2007 *The Criminal Procedure Act, 1993 *The Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 1973 *The Criminal Procedure Act, 1967 South Africa *The Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, 1917 (No 31) *T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fitness To Plead
In the law of England and Wales, fitness to plead is the capacity of a defendant in criminal proceedings to comprehend the course of those proceedings. The concept of fitness to plead also applies in Scots and Irish law."During the period 1946 to 1962 ... 34 were found insane and unfit to plead" Its United States equivalent is competence to stand trial. Test If the issue of fitness to plead is raised, a judge is able to find a person unfit to plead. This is usually done based on information following a psychiatric evaluation. In England and Wales the legal test of fitness to plead is based on the ruling of Alderson B. in ''R v Pritchard''. The accused will be unfit to plead if they are unable: * to comprehend the course of proceedings on the trial, so as to make a proper defence; or * to know that they might challenge any jurors to whom they may object; or * to comprehend the evidence; or * to give proper instructions to their legal representatives. If the issue is raised by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psychopathy
Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent Anti-social behaviour, antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and Boldness, bold, Disinhibition, disinhibited, and Egotism, egotistical Behavior, traits. Different conceptions of psychopathy have been used throughout History of psychopathy, history that are only partly overlapping and may sometimes be contradictory. Hervey M. Cleckley, an American psychiatrist, influenced the initial diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality reaction/disturbance in the ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (''DSM''), as did American psychologist George E. Partridge. The ''DSM'' and ''International Classification of Diseases'' (ICD) subsequently introduced the diagnoses of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and Antisocial personality disorder#ICD-10, dissocial personality disorder (DPD) respectively, stating that these diagnoses have been referred to (or include ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psychosis
Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior that is inappropriate for a given situation. There may also be sleep problems, social withdrawal, lack of motivation, and difficulties carrying out daily activities. Psychosis can have serious adverse outcomes. As with many psychiatric phenomena, psychosis has several different causes. These include mental illness, such as schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, sensory deprivation and in rare cases, major depression (psychotic depression). Other causes include: trauma, sleep deprivation, some medical conditions, certain medications, and drugs such as cannabis, hallucinogens, and stimulants. One type, known as postpartum psychosis, can occur after giving birth. The neurotransmitter dopamine is believed to p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Law Commission (England And Wales)
In England and Wales the Law Commission ( cy, Comisiwn y Gyfraith) is an independent law commission set up by Parliament by the Law Commissions Act 1965 to keep the law of England and Wales under review and to recommend reforms. The organisation is headed by a Chairman (currently Sir Nicholas Green, a judge of the Court of Appeal) and four Law Commissioners. It proposes changes to the law that will make the law simpler, more accessible, fairer, modern and more cost-effective. It consults widely on its proposals and in the light of the responses to public consultation, it presents recommendations to the UK Parliament that, if legislated upon, would implement its law reform recommendations. The commission is part of the Commonwealth Association of Law Reform Agencies. Activities The Law Commissions Act 1965 requires the Law Commission to submit "programmes for the examination of different branches of the law" to the Lord Chancellor for his approval before undertaking new work. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legal Burden Of Proof
In a legal dispute, one party has the burden of proof to show that they are correct, while the other party had no such burden and is presumed to be correct. The burden of proof requires a party to produce evidence to establish the truth of facts needed to satisfy all the required legal elements of the dispute. The burden of proof is usually on the person who brings a claim in a dispute. It is often associated with the Latin maxim ''semper necessitas probandi incumbit ei qui agit'', a translation of which is: "the necessity of proof always lies with the person who lays charges." In civil suits, for example, the plaintiff bears the burden of proof that the defendant's action or inaction caused injury to the plaintiff, and the defendant bears the burden of proving an affirmative defense. The burden of proof is on the prosecutor for criminal cases, and the defendant is presumed innocent. If the claimant fails to discharge the burden of proof to prove their case, the claim will be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
