Kenny A
J Med Ethics. 1986 Mar;12(1):24-7. doi: 10.1136/jme.12.1.24.
Section 2 of the 1957 Homicide Act is indefensible: the concept of 'mental responsibility' is a hybrid which turns the psychiatrist witness either into a thirteenth juryman or a spare barrister. But reform does not lie along the lines suggested by the Butler Committee or the Criminal Law Revision Committee. The latter leaves the jury with insufficient guidance; the former returns to the bad eighteenth century policy of treating mental illness not as a factor in determining responsibility but as a status exempting from responsibility. The much criticised McNaughton rules provide a sounder basis for deciding where responsibility should be assigned in criminal cases.
1957年《杀人法》第二节是站不住脚的：“精神责任”的概念是一种混合体，它要么把精神病医生证人变成第十三位陪审员，要么变成多余的大律师。但改革并非沿着巴特勒委员会或刑法修订委员会所建议的路线进行。后者给陪审团的指导不足；前者则回归到18世纪的糟糕政策，即不把精神疾病视为确定责任的一个因素，而是视为免除责任的一种身份。备受批评的麦克诺顿规则为刑事案件中责任归属的判定提供了更合理的基础。
