15 July 2022
Not guilty by reason of insanity is one of the oldest principles of criminal law. In the 2022 case of R v Keal, the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) revisited the M’Naghten rules, which stem from 1843
David Walbank QC, of Red Lion Chambers, looks at the specifics of Keal, in which the defendant ‘was aware that his act was wrong but believed himself to be compelled to perform it’.
The case concerned the limits of the defence of insanity, and its limited scope in view of the persistent legal division between issues of knowledge and agency.
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