Collins Philip, White Thomas
Michael Rutter Centre, Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AZ.
Med Sci Law. 2003 Jul;43(3):195-202. doi: 10.1258/rsmmsl.43.3.195.
In a recent Scottish Appeal Court opinion (Kim Louise Scarsbrook or Galbraith v. Her Majesty's Advocate, 2001) it was successfully argued by the appellant that her conviction of murder was unsound inter-alia on the basis of overly restrictive pre-existing definitions of diminished responsibility in Scottish law resulting in unduly narrow directions being given by the trial judge to the jury in her case. We felt it timely to present a revised overview of the defence of diminished responsibility in Scotland and to consider the issues surrounding its applicability in cases of clinical depression. The psychiatric literature regarding depression and homicide is reviewed.
在苏格兰上诉法院最近的一份意见书（金·路易丝·斯卡尔斯布鲁克或加尔布雷斯诉女王陛下检察官，2001年）中，上诉人成功地辩称，对她的谋杀罪定罪是不合理的，其中一个原因是苏格兰法律中对减轻责任的预先存在的定义过于严格，导致初审法官在她的案件中向陪审团作出的指示过于狭隘。我们认为，及时对苏格兰减轻责任辩护进行修订概述，并考虑其在临床抑郁症案件中的适用性问题是很有必要的。本文回顾了关于抑郁症和杀人行为的精神病学文献。
