The NCRMD Legal Defense

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the origins of the NCRMD (Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder) defense, as well as the history of the defense within Canada. Additionally, the paper explains the current definitions within the Canadian Criminal Code and examines cases in which defendants used the NCRMD plea. The paper shows that while changes to the Canadian Criminal Code need to be made to clarify the criteria for an NCRMD defense, the defense is a very necessary part of the legal process in today's court systems.

From the Paper:

"According to a response by the Canadian Federal Government to the 14th Report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, which reviewed the Mental Disorder Provisions of the Criminal Code, the current NCRMD defense can be traced back to English common law and the M'Naughten Rules (Department of Justice, Canada, 2002). During the 14th century, King Edward III was the first on record to declare madness as a total defense to a criminal charge, and by 1505, a jury in England had acquitted the first defendant on record on the grounds of insanity. According to records, by the late 1500's, the concept of a lack of guilty mind, or intent, was well established in the English courts (Aaronson, 1998)."

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