Drunkenness and the Criminal Law
| Author | O. C. M. Davis |
| DOI | 10.1177/002201834100500209 |
| Published date | 01 April 1941 |
| Date | 01 April 1941 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Drunkenness and the Criminal Law
By O. C. M.
DAVIS,
M.D.,
D.Se.
Department
of
Medical
Jurisprudence,
University
of
Bristol
DEFINITION
OF DRUNKENNESS
M
ANY
attempts have been made to give a definition of
the
condition known as '
drunkenness'.
Chaucer, in
the
fourteenth
century, writing in The Parson's Tale.! refers to
the
sin of gluttony in these
terms
:-"
This
synne
hath
manye
speces.
The
firste is dronkenesse,
that
is
the
horrible sepulture
of mannes resoun,
and
therfore
whan
aman is dronken he
hath
lost his resoun,
and
this is deedly
synne."
The
writer
also refers to
"forgetelnesse
by to muchel drynkynge, for
which somtyme a
man
forgeteth er
the
morwe what he dide
at even, or on
the
nyght beforn . . . ".
Agood definition is given in a work by Sir Victor Horsley
and
Dr.
Mary
Sturge
:-"
If
a large dose of alcohol is taken
at one sitting, i.e.
within
two to four hours,
the
symptoms
referable to
the
nervous system are
such
as are commonly
spoken
of
as drunkenness or intoxication." 2
Dr.
Charles Mercier, in one of his textbooks," makes it
quite clear
that
drunkenness is a form of insanity.
He
writes:
"
It
is literally
and
exactly
true
that
drunkenness is
insanity;
that
as long
and
as far as a
man
is
drunk,
so long
and
so far
is he insane "
...
"and
from whatever
point
of view we
regard drunkenness, we cannot fail to see
that
its
nature
is
that
of a transient
and
toxic insanity." 4
1The Works of Chaucer.
Globe
Edition
(Macmillan).
•Alcohol and the Human
Body
(Macmillan).
• Crime and Insanity.
•
Insanity
is a disease
or
disorder
of
the
mind.
166
DRUNKENNESS
AND
THE
CRIMINAL
LAW
167
In
the
case of Meade (infra) Mr. Justice Darling referred
to the possible effect of drink on a man's mind.
In
drunkenness, as in other forms of insanity, the law of
dissolution holds good, which law postulates
that
those parts
of the brain which are developed latest are affected first.
DIAGNOSIS OF DRUNKENNESS
It
would be inappropriate to discuss here in minute
detail the question of the diagnosis or recognition of the
condition commonly known as drunkenness.
It
is, however,
necessary for advocates to have some knowledge regarding
the nature of drunkenness and the methods used to ascertain
whether or
not
aperson is suffering from this condition.
An attempt has been made to show
that
drunkenness is a
disease of the mind brought about by the action of a poisonous
substance-alcohol-on
the central nervous system.
Much
as been written on tests for drunkenness
and
signs
of drunkenness,
and
in 1925 there was some interesting
correspondence in The British MedicalJournal lwith reference
to this question. Sir James Purves-Stewart expressed
the
view
that
acareful and systematic clinical 2examination was
necessary, as compared with purely empirical signs.
The
object of a clinical examination is to elicit a
syndrome-or
group-of
signs and symptoms which is characteristic of
some definite disease.
It
must
be emphasized that certain
similar signs or symptoms may exist in a variety of diseases,
and
the aim of differential diagnosis is to discover asyndrome
of signs and symptoms which is characteristic of one disease
only, and this is
not
always an easy task.
The
recognition of a state of intoxication by purely
empirical tests is doubtless of value in a considerable pro-
portion of cases, especially when the tests are made by an
experienced person, such as a police officer who has seen
1BM.J., 7th
February,
1925.
• A clinical examination is strictly
one
made
at
the
bedside
of a
patient;
but
such
an examination is
frequently
made
in
the
physician's
consulting-room
(Greek
ICAllllKOS,
pertaining
to a
bed).
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