Criminal Irresponsibility Due to Mental Disorder: Court of Cassation Rulings on Abolition of Discernment
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Criminal irresponsibility, moral constraint, mental disorder, penal code, article 122-1, abolition of discernment, neuropsychic disorder, Court of Cassation, Criminal Chamber, voluntary consumption, cannabis, aggravating circumstances, imputability, mental disturbance, freedom of mind, threat, imminent danger, judicial investigation, kidnapping, homicide, formal investigation, charges, plausible reasons, penal irresponsibility, Amnesty Act, Keeper of the Seals, Chamber of Indictments, Lyon Court of Appeal, Attorney General, Court-Martial, former article 64, Penal Code, subjective causes, case law, criminal procedure, investigating chamber, mental or neuropsychic disorder, control of acts, Cass crim, April 1934, April 2021, 20-80.135, 122-1 Penal Code, article 64 Penal Code
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Unlock the nuances of criminal irresponsibility with landmark judgments from the Court of Cassation. Explore how moral constraint and mental disturbance impact penal liability, as seen in pivotal cases from 20 April 1934 and 14 April 2021. Understand the legal precedents set by the Criminal Chamber regarding the abolition of discernment and the application of Article 122-1 of the Penal Code. Discover the critical factors that determine penal irresponsibility, including the role of mental or neuropsychic disorders and the implications of voluntary substance consumption. Dive into the analysis of these significant rulings and their implications for criminal law.
Extract
[...] The Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation made a ruling on 14 April 2021. It rejected the appeal and sided with the investigating chamber, which had "without insufficiency or contradiction ( . ) explained the reasons why it had declared, on the one hand, that there were charges against Mr. for having committed the acts in question, on the other hand, that he was penalily irresponsible due to a mental or neuropsychic disorder that had abolished his discernment or control of his acts at the time of the facts." It adds that Article 122-1, paragraph 1 of the Penal Code does not make a distinction according to the origin of the mental disorder that abolished discernment." Analysis : The reasons for madness, mental disorder are of little importance in the case at hand. [...]
[...] It considered that the soldier in this case was not threatened, that he retained his freedom of mind. The threat weighing on his fellow citizens was neither pressing nor direct enough to deprive him of this freedom of mind. Analysis : The constraint, whether moral or physical, is exempt from responsibility. The threat is included in this constraint if and only if 'it was impossible to escape the imminent danger it caused, without committing an infraction'. The Court of Cassation made a good application of the text. [...]
[...] Court of Cassation, Criminal Chamber, 20 April 1934; 14 April 2021 - The subjective causes of criminal irresponsibility - Case law summaries I. Cass. crim April 1934, case Genty The present judgment rendered by the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation on 20 April 1934 deals with the causes of criminal irresponsibility and more specifically with the contours of moral constraint. In this case, on 26 September 1914, a soldier, who had gone to graze his cows, was arrested by a German patrol that had previously fired in their direction. [...]
[...] On 10 July 2017, he was placed under formal investigation for these charges. The investigating chamber was seized. By order of 12 July 2019, it rejected the aggravating circumstance related to the victim's race/religion. However, it considered that the charges retained against the person under formal investigation were sufficient and that there were plausible reasons to apply the first paragraph of Article 122-1 of the Penal Code providing for penal irresponsibility. The civil parties and the public prosecutor appealed this order. [...]
[...] crim April 2021, n°20-80.135 The present judgment rendered by the criminal chamber of the court of cassation on 14 April 2021 deals with the contours of the mental disturbance that led to the abolition of discernment. In this case, on 4 April 2017, the police entered the home of a man following a report of kidnapping. He was apprehended, reciting verses from the Quran. In addition, the police discovered the lifeless body of a woman, who had fallen from a balcony. [...]
