Psychiatric issues in criminal law

Criminal law is not my major, but the strict logic deeply attracted me. Sometimes, I will put the criminal law as a hobby to study and learn in practice, often acting as a criminal lawyer, which are serious professionals as heterogeneous. However, love is not impede, since you could not make a living, leisure preferences about the total not hurt the important essentials.

In the criminal law study the logical subject, the mentally ill should be regarded as a divergent thinking subject. Twenty years ago I had the pleasure of hearing, Li Congpei professor "judicial psychosis", it was felt that this is not an easy subject. Recently, Shaanxi a famous case triggered the discussion about the criminal psychiatric problems, also let me searching and sorting of the sedimentary years of knowledge, knowledge about this kind of thinking is divergent, possibly due to the nature of this discipline.

Provisions on the mental patient crime in our criminal law is relatively complete, the article eighteenth of the criminal law to determine, with the spirit of the patient whether to have the ability to recognize or control their behavior as the mental patients should bear criminal responsibility for the social harm behavior standard. Accordingly, the mental patient intermittent crime is in a normal mental, should bear the criminal responsibility; mental patients has not completely lost the ability to recognize or control his own conduct crime, should bear criminal responsibility, but may be given a lighter or mitigated punishment. That is to say, not all of the mental patients are not socially dangerous acts of criminal responsibility. This one concept, should be reflected the achievements of Psychiatry (at least the laws at the time). Concrete can be divided into two problems are discussed:

1     The criminal responsibility of intermittent mental patients.

Since the mental patient intermittent crime is in a normal mental, should bear the criminal responsibility, how to determine the behavior of people in the implementation of social harmfulness behavior sanity is the key to the problem. The social harm behavior is past behavior, intermittent mental disease with intermittent episodes of characteristics, to accurately identify the mental state of the behavior implementation difficulties. The general judgment according to the characteristics of time segment and closest to the harm behavior before, after the behavior and behavior in the process of people's words and deeds of the normal degree, rationality, logic etc.. The perpetrators harm behavior is unable to recognize or control our behavior, even if the investigation, prosecution, trial when the spirit is not normal, criminal responsibility of the perpetrators; harm behavior to identify or to control their behavior, even if the investigation, prosecution, trial spirit is not normal, the theory is should bear criminal responsibility, but in actual operation, for the later attack behavior, should be discontinued criminal judicial activity, treatment and care of patients.

2   How to understand the behavior of people is completely lost the ability to recognize or control his own conduct.

According to the provisions of the criminal law, even non intermittent mental patient, after the implementation of the harmful behavior, nor is it can not bear criminal responsibility. There is distinction between the mental patient mental patient a medical and no criminal responsibility, distinguish criterion is to see whether the actor completely lost the ability to recognize or control his own conduct. Although mental illness, but not at a complete loss of the ability to recognize or control his own conduct the degree, still need to bear criminal responsibility, but may be given a lighter or mitigated punishment according to law. How to judge whether the actor is completely lost the ability to recognize or control his own conduct is a highly specialized, highly sophisticated technology. Psychiatry the quantifiable indicators, the objectivity of the organ lesions (less brain cell activity anomaly count?) , more subjective judgments, there should be an overall and scientific ideas, not mechanically, isolated copy according to set (not as the condition input computer and press enter it as simple answer). Family history is just opens up the possibility of the disease, not the inevitability; no insight is also a make me confused problems, there seems to be a paradox, behavior do not admit their incidence is no insight, be patient, to admit that he is the disease but also can be regarded as admission, is also a patient. In a subjective judgment nature is strong discipline, how to accurately determine the behavior implementation behavior is completely lost the ability to recognize or control his own conduct, to prevent misdiagnosis, absolutely every stakeholders need to rethink things, especially such a diagnosis results related to the implementation of the criminal law. For example, by some strange dominated, and the formulation and implementation of careful risk behavior, and can answer questions fluently and logical behavior, whether or not completely lost the ability to recognize or control his own behavior? On one side is the behavior of the legitimate rights and interests, one side is the punishment of crime, the maintenance of law enforcement responsibility of social order, judicial psychiatric practitioners working not lose.

Classics appraisal does not bear criminal responsibility of behavior and how to deal with? The criminal law eighteenth stipulation: his family or guardian shall be ordered to put in the custody and care; when necessary, by the government of compulsory medical. Two words, behind have a strict and meticulous system must be aimed at preventing, -- the bloody tragedy happen again and reflect the society to people with special care.