Redirected from McNaghten rule
As they were a precedent of England's court of last resort the rules have been treated in England as if of statutory force, and were followed in many Commonwealth countries and parts of the US. They were criticized for excusing from criminal responsibility only those whose insanity resulted in lack of knowledge. The fact that an individual might know what they were doing and that it was wrong and yet because of their abnormal mental state might lack the capacity to control the action was not considered. It was argued the lack of capacity must be the key issue over responsibility. The English law was amended in 1957 to include irresistible impulse.
The rules developed out of the trial Rex v. McNaghten. Daniel McNaghten was a Scottish woodworker who killed the Prime Minister's Secretary Edward Drummond by mistake for Prime Minister Robert Peel, under an insane belief that the government was plotting against him. He was tried and acquitted on the ground of insanity and committed to Bethlem Hospital and then Broadmoor. Nine experts all found him insane.
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