| Abstract: | The establishing of facts in criminal cases calls for the marshalling of evidence, from every angle and without bias, in strict compliance with the law. The findings of the court in respect of criminal accountability must likewise be established beyond doubt; probability is inadequate as a basis for conviction. The highest degree is inadequate as a basis for conviction. The highest degree of forensic competence in matters psychiatric and psychological must be assured. Expert opinion must proceed from an evaluation of the accused person's capacity to distinguish between right and wrong, taking account of the nature of the offense. Part of this evaluation consists in the determination of the combined effect of the principal determining factors. Greater depth of knowledge is required respecting the part played by alcohol in the capacity to distinguish right from wrong compared with impulse, mental deficiency, grave abnormal development, etc. In the interests of securing a sound judgment of criminal accountability, further research is desirable into the complexus of determining factors, for example, into the multifunctional contribution of deranged physiological structures and processes which take a mental and/or psychopathological course. |
