Criminal Cases Review (Insanity) Act 1999
| Year | 1999 |
Criminal Cases Review (Insanity) Act 1999
1999 Chapter 25
An Act to make provision enabling verdicts of guilty but insane to be referred to and reviewed by the Court of Appeal.
[27th July 1999]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Reference of former verdict of guilty but insane.
(1) Where a verdict was returned in England and Wales or Northern Ireland to the effect that a person was guilty of the act or omission charged against him but was insane at the time, the Criminal Cases Review Commission may at any time refer the verdict to the Court of Appeal if subsection (2) below applies.
(2) This subsection applies if the Commission consider that there is a real possibility that the verdict would not be upheld were the reference to be made and either—
(a) the Commission so consider because of an argument, or evidence, not raised in the proceedings which led to the verdict, or
(b) it appears to the Commission that there are exceptional circumstances which justify the making of the reference.
(3) Section 14 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 (supplementary provision about the reference of a verdict) shall apply in relation to a reference under subsection (1) above as it applies in relation to references under section 9 or 10 of that Act.
2 Reference treated as appeal: England and Wales.
(1) A reference under section 1(1) above of a verdict returned in England and Wales in the case of a person shall be treated for all purposes as an appeal by the person under section 12 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 .
(2) In their application to such a reference by virtue of subsection (1) above, sections 13 and 14 of that Act shall have effect—
(a) as if references to the verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity were to the verdict referred under section 1(1) above, and
(b) as if, in section 14(1)(b), for the words from the beginning to ‘that he’ there were substituted ‘the accused was under a disability and’.
3 Reference treated as appeal: Northern Ireland.
(1) A reference under section 1(1) above of a verdict returned in Northern Ireland in the case of a person shall be treated for all purposes as an appeal by the person under section 12 of the Criminal Appeal (Northern Ireland) Act 1980 .
(2) In their application to such a reference by virtue of subsection (1) above, sections 12 and 13 of that Act shall have effect—
(a) as if references to the finding of not guilty on the ground of insanity were to the verdict referred under section 1(1) above, and
(b) as if, in section 13(5A), for the words ‘there should have been findings that the accused was unfit to be tried and that he’ there were substituted ‘the accused was unfit to be tried and’.
4 Extent and short title.
(1) Section 1 above and this section extend to England and Wales and Northern Ireland.
(2) Section 2 above extends to England and Wales.
(3) Section 3 above extends to Northern Ireland.
(4) This Act may be cited as the Criminal Cases Review (Insanity) Act 1999.
EXPLANATORY NOTES
INTRODUCTION
1. These explanatory notes relate to the Criminal Cases Review (Insanity) Act 1999 which received Royal Assent on 27th July 1999. They have been prepared by the Home Office in order to assist the reader in understanding the Act. They do not form part of the Act and have not been endorsed by Parliament.
2. The notes need to be read in conjunction with the Act. They are not, and are not meant to be, a comprehensive description of the Act. So where a section or part of a section does not seem to require any explanation or comment, none is given.
SUMMARY
3. The Act enables the Criminal Cases Review Commission to refer to the Court of Appeal a verdict of ‘guilty but insane’ under the Trial of Lunatics Act 1883 and gives the Court of Appeal powers to hear and dispose of an appeal on such a reference. Although the verdict of guilty but insane was abolished in the 1960s there may still be a small number of people who were the subject of such a verdict and would like to have it reconsidered by the Court of Appeal.
BACKGROUND
The special verdict
4. Section 2(1) of the Trial of Lunatics Act 1883 provided as follows:
‘Where in any indictment or information any act or omission is charged against any person as an offence, and it is given in evidence on the trial of such a person for that offence that he was insane, so as not to be responsible, according to law, for his actions at the time when the act was done or the omission made, then, if it appears to the jury before whom such person is tried that he did the act or made the omission charged, but was insane as aforesaid at the time when he did or made the same, the jury shall return a special verdict to the effect that the accused was guilty of the act or omission charged against him, but was insane as aforesaid at the time when he did the act or made the omission.’
This verdict is commonly referred to as ‘guilty but insane’. Section 3 of the 1883 Act extended to Ireland but not to Scotland.
5. Soon after the passing of the Criminal Appeal Act 1907, which established the Court of Criminal Appeal, the question arose whether there was an appeal to that Court against a verdict of ‘guilty but insane’. In Felstead [1914] AC 534, the House of Lords held that a person found guilty but insane was acquitted of the offence because he lacks the guilty mind required for him to be convicted so that no appeal was possible against the finding that the accused did the act or that he was insane at the time.
6. Although recommendations for a change in the law, to remove the reference in the verdict to the guilt of the accused, were made in 1923 and in 1953, no change was made until the 1960s. The Mental Health Act (Northern Ireland) 1961 repealed the 1883 Act in its application to Northern Ireland and introduced thefinding of not guilty on the ground of insanity: see now article 50 of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 (S.I. 1986/595 (N.I.4)). In England and Wales, the Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964 amended section 2(1) of the 1883 Act so that the verdict became one of not guilty by reason of insanity.
7. Section 2 of the 1964 Act provided for a right of appeal against the new verdict and, under subsection (4), the power of the Secretary of State to refer a conviction to the Court of Criminal Appeal (under section 19 of the 1907 Act) was to include cases involving the new verdict. Equivalent provision for Northern Ireland was made by section 15 of the Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1966. The provisions for appeal against the new verdict and finding are now to be found in sections 12, 13 and 17 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 for England and Wales and sections 12 and 14 of the Criminal Appeal...
To continue reading
Request your trial