1

LEGAL&ETHI
CALI
SSUESI
NPSYCHI
ATRI
CNURSI
NG

I
ntr
oduct
ion

Legalaspect
sofpsy chi
atr
yusual
l
ydeal
swiththeappli
cat
ionofpsychiat
ri
cknowledge
tothelegali
ssuesandsometimeswi
ththeappli
cat
ionofl
egalknowledgetopsychi
atr
y.

InIndia,Psychiatr
yhasbecomeanest abl
ishedmedi calspeciali
ty.Thereisdev el
opment
seenwi thinthesubspecial
iti
esofpsychi
atr
yi nrecentti
mes.Howev er
,forforensi
c
psychiat r
ytogrowt her
eneedst obeacombi nedeffortf
rom v ar
iousagenci esand
regulatorybodies.ManyoftheIndianl
awsareoutdat edast heywer efr
ameddur i
ng
Brit
ishr ul
eandneedmodi f
icati
onsandamendment saccordi
ngt ot hecurrentneeds.

Cr
imi
nalResponsi
bil
it
y

Cr
imi
nalLawandPeopl
ewi
thMent
alDi
sor
der

January1843,ayoungScot
sman,DanielMcNaughtenshotdeadEdwardDrummond,
secr
etarytotheBr
it
ishPr
imeMini
sterSirRober
tPeel.Hehadi
ntendedt
oki
llt
hePr
ime
Mini
sterbutDrummondwasassassinat
edbymi st
ake.

TheJury’af
tert
esti
ficati
onby9physi
ciansfoundMcNaughtennotguilt
yby
reasonsi nsanity
.QueenVi ct
oria,SirRober
tPeelandot herprominentjudgeswere
outraged.Followingthi
s,15promi nentj
udgeswer ei
nvit
edt orespondtoaser i
esof
questionsoncr i
minalr
esponsibil
it
y.Theanswer
si mmor t
ali
zedinhist
oryoff or
ensi
c
psychiatr
y,hav enowcomet obeknownasMcNaught enRules.

McNaughtenRulesusedi naslightl
ymodifiedforminmanycount ri
esevennow.I n
I
ndia,Secti
on84ofI ndi
anPenalCode( Act45of1860)st atesthat‘nothingisan
off
ense,which is done bya per son,who att he t
ime ofdoing i
t,byr eason of
unsoundnessofmind, i
sincapableofknowingthenatureoft
heactorthathei sdoi
ng
whatiseit
herwrongorcont r
arytolaw’

Ment
all
yil
lper
sonmustsat
isf
ytheabov
ement
ionedr
ule.

An‘
i
diot
’(ment
all
yret
ardedper
son)i
snotl
i
abl
eincr
imi
nal
law

Lawcl
assi
fi
es‘
cri
minal
lunat
ics’
int
o3cl
asses:

1)anundest
ri
al,
whocannotst
andt
ri
albecauseofment
ali
l
lness

2)Gui
l
tybuti
nsane

3)Cr
imi
nal
swhol
aterbecomement
all
yil
l

TheruleofMc'Naught
enisbeingcri
ti
cisedheavi
lyinlegalspher
esofbei ngapplied
bl
indl
y.Thecour
tshowever
, hav
econti
nuedtouset hestandar
dofov erhundr
edy ears
ol
d.Thisisbecause law and medi
cine do notlookatt he i
ndiv
idualwith same
 2

per
spect
ives.

Aut
omat
ism andcr
imi
nall
iabi
li
ty
Byl egaldefinit
ion,t heact
sper formedi nvoluntari
lyinanunconsci ousmannerar e
knownasaut omatisms.Automat ism cannotbecal l
edi nsani
ty.Thereisagr eyarea
betweeni nsanit
yandaut omati
sm.Somnambul ism,epilepsy,hypoglycemiaaresome
oftheexampl eswhi chwouldconst i
tut
ethei nstancesofaut omatism whereinther
eis
atimespanofaut omat i
cbehaviour.Thusaut omat i
smsl astforabriefperi
odandt he
personshowsanor malbehaviouraf t
ert hatper i
od.Thi sisunli
kei nsani
tywhichis
persist
entandper v asi
ve.Howev erautomat ism alsoact sasagooddef enceina
cri
mi nalcase.

Al
cohol
ism,
drugaddi
cti
onandcr
imi
nall
aw
Anactdonebyaper sonduetother esul
tofint
oxi
cati
on,withoutknowingastowhat
hewouldbedoing,i
snotanoffence.However,t
hisexcepti
onwoul dnotbeappl
icabl
e
i
nrespectofapersonwhoresortstov ol
unt
aryint
oxi
cationwithanintent
iont
odoor
commitanact
.

Per
sonwi
thment
aldi
sor
derasawi
tness
Anyonemayt esti
fyandbeacompet entpersontotest
ifyasawi t
ness,unlesstheCourt
consider
st hatsuchaper soni sprevent
edf rom under
standi
ngthequest ionputtohim
onaccountofol dage, di
seasewhet herofbodyormi ndorothercauseoft hesamekind.
Inotherwor ds,aper soncannotbeconsi deredincompetenttotesti
fyjustbecausehe
hasament aldisorder.Ont hecontrar
y,ithastobeestabli
shedthatonaccountofsuch
adisorderhecannotunder standthequest i
onsputtohim.

Sui
cideandper
sonswi
thment
aldi
sor
der
Suici
deassuch,i snotacr i
meundert heschemeofpenalcode,butanat t
emptt o
commi tsuici
deisdef ini
tel
yacr i
me.‘ Mens-rea’(int
enti
on to har m)isoneoft he
essenti
alelement
soft hisoffence.Ther i
ghttol if
edoesnoti ncludetheri
ghttodi e.
Whent hementalelementisabsent,anat t
emptt ocommi tsuicidewouldnotconsti
tute
anoffence.However,t
herecentlegi
slat
ionhasst ruckdownt heI ndi
anPenalCode(I
PC)
secti
on309af t
eralongprotestbythement alhealthprof
essionals.

Thef
tandper
sonswi
thment
aldi
sor
der
Takingawayofamov ablepropert
youtofpossessi onofanyper sonwi thoutconsent
woul dconst itut
eanof fenceoft hef t
.Elementofdi shonestintenti
oni sapr i
mar y
i
ngr edient
.I faper sonsuf f
eri
ngf rom Kleptomani
a( animpulsetost ealinwhicht he
dishonesti ntenti
oni snotappar ent)doesanactwhi chwoul dot her
wiseamountt o
theft,hisactwoul dnotamountt oat heftt
opunishhimi ntr
uesense.Thepuni shment
shouldnotbeaspr escri
bedinpenal codebuttheonei nneedoftreatment.
 3

Pr
emenst
rualsy
ndr
omeandcr
imi
nall
aw
Premenstr
ualsy
ndromemaybeeffect
iveasanaf
fi
rmat
ivedef
encet
oacr
imi
nal
chargei
fthedef
endantcanshowt
hat

(i
)she was suf
fer
ing f
rom pr
emenst
rualsy
ndr
ome att
he t
ime t
he cr
ime was
committed;
and

(i
i)Becauseofhercondi
ti
on,eithert
hatthecri
minalactwasaninvoluntaryactorthat
atthetimeofthecri
minalactshedidnotpossessthementalst
aterequiredbylawf or
thecommi ssi
onofacrime.Premenstrualsy
ndromehasbeensuccessf ull
ypleadedas
acriminaldef
encei
nEnglandbuthasnotbeent est
edinIndi
ancourts.

Capi
talsent
enceandper
sonswi
thment
aldi
sor
der

Worldwide,t
hegeneralopini
onisthattheper sonswhoareinsaneandr et
ardedshal
l
notbeexecuted.Thoughthesamel awisfoll
owedi nI
ndi
a,oflate,t
hisnorm hadadent
tosomeext entwhiledeali
ngwithpersonswhower ementallyretar
dedandsi mil
arl
y
wit
ht hosewhocouldnottakeindependentdecisi
onsowi
ngt oment ali
ll
ness.

Codeofcr
imi
nalpr
ocedur
eandper
sonswi
thment
aldi
sor
der

Procedurall
awi sat ool toadv ancedf orm ofj ust
ice.Aspeci alprov i
sionisenv i
sagedin
theCodeofCr imi nalPr ocedur e.Whi ledealingwi t
hamat terconcer nedwi t
haper son
whohasment aldi sor der.WhenaMagi stratehol di
ngani nqui
r yr easonablybeli
eves
thatthepersonagai nstwhom t hei nquir
yi sbeinghel disofunsoundmi ndandasa
consequence t her eofi si ncapabl e ofmaki ng ef f
ecti
v e def ence,t hen the said
Magi str
ateshallinqui reintot hef actofsuchunsoundmi ndbycausi ngsuchper sonto
beexami nedbyaci vilsurgeonoft heDistr
ictorsuchot hermedi cal offi
cerastheState
Gov ernmentmaydi r
ect .Further,thesaidsur geonormedi calofficershallbeexami ned
andhi sstatementwoul dber ecor ded.Aftersor ecordingthest at ement ,i
fitisfound
thatthepersonf acingi nquiryisi ncapableofmaki ngdefence, t
hent heMagi str
ateshal
l
recordhisfi
ndingt opost ponet hei nquir
y.

Apersonwhoi sfoundtobeofunsoundmindbyt heMagi st

rat
e/Cour
t,asthecase
maybe,rel
easesthepersononparol
ebyobtai
ningsuff
ici
entsuret
y.Wheresuret
yis
notav
ail
abl
e,theMagist
rateor
der
stodet
ainhi
mi nsaf
ecustody

I
fmentali
ll
nessisaccept
edthencust
odycanbegiventoanot
herper
son.I
fnosuch
per
sonisavai
labl
e,t
henthecour
thastogi
vethecustodyt
osomeNon-Gover
nmental
 4

Organisati
onandnott ot hejai
l.Howev er,nosuchper sonshal
lbedetai
nedatment al
hospital
sot herwisebycompl y
ingwi t
ht her ul
esmadebyt heStategover
nment.The
tri
alorinquiryofaper sonaccusedofanof f
encer esumesinanor malmanner
,onlyon
recoveryofsuchper sonf rom disor
derofmi nd3,andnotot her
wise.Whenapersonis
detai
nedi njailorment alhospi
talsandt hatpersoni ssaidt
obecapableofmakinghis
defence,thenacer t
if
icationfr
om theI nspectorGener alofPri
sonsortwov i
sit
orsof
ment alhospital
sisanessent i
alfactor
.

Juv
eni
lej
ust
iceandper
sonswi
thment
aldi
sor
der
AJuv enileorachild,whoisment all
yi l
landcommi t
ti
nganyact ,shouldbel odgedata
specialhomeorashel terhomeori nt heinsti
tuti
onascr eatedunderJuv enil
eJust ice
(CareandPr ot
ectionofChildr
en)Act .Thesaidjuvenil
eorchi ldshoul dnotbekeptt here
beyond t heperi
od specifi
ed byt hecompet entauthorityorMedi calOfficerforan
adequatet r
eat
ment .Thisappli
eswi t
hequalf orceeveninr espectofaj uv
enil
eorachi ld
who i snoti n confli
ctwithlaw butsuf f
ersf rom disor derofmi nd.The j uvenili
ty
consideredforholdingthetri
alisthedat ewhent heallegedof fencewascommi tted.It
i
snott heageont hedat eofstandi
ngt ri
al.

Ci
vi
lresponsi
bil
it
y

Personswi thment aldisorderssuffercert

aindisadvantagesint hei
rday -t
o-dayli
feon
accountoft heiri
ncapaci t
yt otakecer t
aindecisi
onsi ndependently.Eveni ftheytake
suchdeci si
ons,att het imewhent hesaiddecisionswer et aken,whet hertheyhad
understoodthei mplicati
onsoft hesaidact i
onisani mpor t
antquest ion.Theci v
illaw
broadlyregulat
est hesaidaspect sofpowert oholdandt oalienateproper t
yaswel las
i
ssuesr elat
edtot hei
rmar riage.

Ri
ghtt
ohol
dpr
oper
ty
Theanci entHindulaw hadcer tai
nr est
ri
ctionsregar
dingther i
ghtofaper sonwhoi s
havingdisorderofmi ndt oholdt heproper t
y.Thelegisl
ativ
est ept akenduri
ng1928
thoughhadr emov edthedi sabi
l
iti
esofper sonstoholdt hepr oper
ty;itdi
dnotr emove
thedisabil
it
yofaper sonwi thment aldi
sorder.Howeverafter1956,thedisqual
ifi
cat
ion
basedondi seases,defectordefor
mi tyi
snotabart ohav eproperty
.

Test
ament
arycapaci
ty
Testamentarycapacityofaper sonfol
lowst hesoundnessofmi nd.A per sonwho
cannotunderstandhis/heractonaccountofi ntoxi
cati
on.Howev er
,at estamentmade
duri
ngt heluci
di nt
erval(i
nterveningper
iodsofnormal cy
)woul dbeav al
iddocument
.
Simil
aristhesituat
ionwithr especttoapersonwhoi sahabitualdr
inker,buthasmade
the testamentwhen he/ she i s notundert he infl
uence ofal cohol.Lett
erof
 5

admi
nist
rat
ionorpr
obat
ecannotbegr
ant
edt
oanyper
sonwhohasadi
sor
derofmi
nd.

Cont
ractLaw
Ev er
yper soni scompet enttomakecont ract,provi
dedt heyhaveat tai
nedanageof
maj orityandt hathe/shei sofasoundmi nd.Agenui neconsentisv er
ymuchnecessar y
tohav eav ali
dcontract.TheIndianCont ractActf orthesai dpur
poseshasspeci fi
call
y
env i
sagedt hataper sonent er
ingi ntothecont ractshouldnothav eanydisorderoft he
mi ndatt het i
meofmaki ngt hecont ract.Thi sist oensur ethathei scapabl eof
under standi ngitandi scapableoff ormi ngar at
ionalj
udgementast oitseffectupon
hisi nterest .Aper sonwi thadi sorderofmi ndbutwi t
hoccasionalsoundmi ndcan
makeav alidcontractdur i
ngthoseper iods.Si mil
arly
,aper sonwhoi susuall
yofsound
mi ndbuthasadi sorderofmi ndonoccasi onscannotmakeav al
idcont r
actwhenhei s
i
ll.Acont r actenteredint obyal awf ulguar dianofament all
yil
lpersoni svali
d.Also,
themanagerdul yappoi ntedundert heMent alHealt
hActcoul denterintoacont ractto
bindawar d.

Par
tner
shi
p
Ther el
ati
onshipofpar t
nershi
par i
sesf rom contractandnotfrom st at
us.Tobecomea
memberofapar tnershipfir
m,t hesoundnessofmi ndisimpor t
ant.Ifaper sonof
soundment alhealth,afterbecomi ngapar t
nersuf f
ersmentali l
lness,thenanyot her
partnerorotherper sonwhoi sfoundt obeent i
tl
edmayseekdi ssoluti
onofpar t
ner ship
ofsuchaper sonbyf i
li
nganappl icati
onbef oretheDistri
ctCourt.Onsuchappl i
cat i
on,
afterenquir
yifitisnot i
cedbyt heDi str
ictCourtthatthepersoni sment all
yi l
l,t
hent he
Distri
ctCourtwoul dappoi ntamanager .Themanagersoappoi ntedby ,ast hedi stri
ct
courtmaydi rect,shallj
oinwithot herpartnersindisposingofthepar tnershipproper t
y
andshal l
doal lsuchact sforcarr
yingint oeffectthedissol
uti
onoft hepar tnership.

Tr
ansf
erofPr
oper
ty
Onlythepersonshav ingcompet encytocontractcouldef fectatransferofpr opert
y.As
acont r
actmadebyaper sonwi t
hment aldisorderisv oid,thetransfermadebyhi m
wouldalsobev oi
d.Howev er,i
fthepersontransfersaproper tyduringt heluci
dinterval
,
thensuchat ransferstandsv ali
d.Onbehal fofament allyil
lundert heMent alHealth
Act1987,amanagerappoi ntedbyt heCour t
,wi t
hitspr iorapprov alcouldmor tgage,
charge ortransferbysal e,gift
,and exchange orot herwise transferanyoft he
i
mmov abl
eproper t
yoft hepersonwhohasment ali
ll
ness.Howev erbef oregranti
ngthe
permissi
on,thecour tshallmakesuchani nquir
yt oprot ecttheinterestoft heperson
withmentaldisor
der .

St
ocks,
Shar
esandSecur
it
ies
Acqui
sit
ion,holdi
ngandtransf
erofshar es,st
ocksandsecuri
ti
esbyaper sonwhois
mental
lyil
lareequall
yanimportantaspectinthecommerci
almarket
.Ifapersonwho
hol
dssuchv aluabl
esbecomesment al
lyillort
hemanagerappoi
ntedforsuchmental
l
y
 6

i
lldiesorhimselfbecomesmental
lyi
ll
,thenforthepur
poseofef f
ect
iver
egul
ati
onof
these stocks/
shares,t
he Di
str
ictCourtmay di r
ectthe company orGover
nment
concernedt omakesuchtr
ansf
erortotransf
erthesameandr ecei
veandpayovert
he
divi
dends.

Mar
ri
ageandMent
ali
ll
ness

Mostoft heper sonall aws,bar r

ingMusl imlaw,di squali
fyaper sonwi thdisor derof
mindf rom get tingmar ried.Ther ei salmostaconsonancei nt hel egalfiel
dt hatatt he
ti
meofmar riagebot hbr ideandbr i
degr oom shouldbeofsoundmi ndt hought her ei
sa
divergenceaboutt hedegr eeofsani t
yr equir
edt omakeaper sonf i
tformar riage.The
HinduMar r
iageActandSpeci alMar ri
ageActbot hemphasi zet hatneitherpar tymust
besuf feringf rom anydi sorderofmi nd.Howev er,ifamar r
iagehast akenpl acei n
respectofaper sonwhohast hei nf
irmitythent hemar r
iagei psof acto( byt hatvery
fact)woul dnotbev oidbuti svoidableatt heinst
anceoft heot herpar ty.Soi tisupt o
thespouseoft hement allyillwhetherhe/ shecancont inuet hemar r
iedl i
fewithsucha
person.Howev er ,thef r
amer sofl awhav estatedthatt hement aldisordershal lbeof
suchaki ndort osuchanext entast or endertheper sont obeunf itformar riageand
procreatet hechi ldren.Ov erhere,agr eyar eawoul dbet hesi tuati
onwher ebot hthe
parti
esar esuf fer ingf rom ment aldisor dertor endert hem asment all
yillandar e
capablet opr ocreat echi l
dr en.

Di
vor
ce
Apersonhavi
ngasev eredisor
derofmi ndorsuff
eri
ngcont i
nuouslyorint
ermit
tent
ly
f
rom mentaldisorderofsuch a ki
nd and to such an extentthathe cannotbe
r
easonabl
yexpectedtoliv
ewi thhi
s/herspousewoul dsufferagr oundtohav ehis
marr
iagedi
ssol
vedbyadecr eeofdi
vorce.

Adopt
ion

Theconceptofadopt
ionisauni quefeat
ureofHi
nduper sonall
aw asfarasI
ndi
ais
concer
ned.Theper
songivinginadopt
ionmusthaveageofdi scr
eti
onandmustbeof
soundmind6.Si
milar
ly,t
ot akeinadopti
onthesoundnessofmi nd7isanessent
ial
prer
equi
sit
e.

Abor
ti
on
Pri
orto1971,terminat
ionofpregnancywasconsi deredanof f
encepunishableunder
l
aw andwasal sowast r
eatedasat aboo.Shanti
l
alShahCommi t
teerecommended
amongseveralaspectsastowhent het er
minat
ionofpregnancycouldbedone.The
committ
eerecommendedt hatpregnancycouldbet erminat
ed,wherethepr egnancy
wouldhaver esult
edfrom rapewi t
hament al
lyret
arded,ri
skofser i
ousment all
y
 7

handi
capped chi
ld bei
ng born orwi t
h ser
iousr isktothe li
feoft he mother.To
ter
minatepr
egnancyofawomanwhohasnotat tainedtheageofeighteenyearsora
womanmor ethaneight
eeny earsbutmental
lyil
l,
theconsentofguar
diani nwri
ti
ngisa
mandatoryr
equir
ementandwi thoutsuchconsent,noter
minati
oncouldbedone

CONCLUSI
ON
Thereisnopointinhavi
ngalawunlessitcanbei mplement edwhichisamaj ordebacle
i
nI ndi
a.Aninter
faceoflawandpsychiatr
ythrought eachi
ng,trai
ningandresearchcan
l
eadt oposi
tiv
edev el
opmentsinthefutureofforensicpsy chi
atr
y.Itwouldbeofgr eat
i
nteresttocompar ethepreval
entinterf
aceofI ndianlaw andpsy chiat
rywi t
ht hat
preval
enti
nUni t
edKingdom (
UK)orUnitedStatesofAmer ica(USA)inthefutur
e.