Legal Definition and Related Resources of Insanity

Unsoundness of mind; madness . Mental alienation or derangement of mind. legal insanity which exonerates from crime or incapacitates from civil actions is a mental deficiency with reference to the particular act in question and not a general incapacity . In criminal law it connotes a presumption that a particular individual lacks the capacity to possess a guilty mind . It connotes a mental condition which renders a person incapable of knowing or understanding the nature and quality of his act, or incapable of distinguishing right from wrong in relation to that act. When a defendant is insane, a trial against him is barred. In this context, insanity means inability on the part of a defendant to understand the nature of the crime charged or inability to reasonably and rationally defend against such charge , including co- operation with counsel . See People v McKinstray, 198 N.E.2d 829, 30 Ill.2d 611. See irresistible impulse and mcnaghten’s rule .

noun

• aberration
• aberration of mind
• abnormality
• alienation
• alienation of mind
• amentia
• brain damage
• craziness
• daftness
• delirium
• delusion
• dementedness
• dementia
• deranged intellect
• derangement
• diseased mind
• disordered intellect
• disordered mind
• disordered reason
• disorientation
• frenzy
• hallucination
• insania
• loss of reason
• lunacy
• madness
• mental abnormality
• mental alienation
• mental decay
• mental deficiency
• mental derangement
• mental disease
• mental incapacity
• mental infirmities
• mental instability
• mental sickness
• mental unsoundness
• paranoia
• raving
• unbalanced mind
• unsound mind
• unsoundness of mind
• vecordia
• want of comprehension
• want of reason Associated Concepts: adjudication of insanity
• diminished capacity
• habitual insanity
• incompetency
• insane delusion
• insane impulse to act
• insanity defense
• insanity plea
• irresistible impulse foreign phrases: Furiosus nullum negotium contrahere potest
• An insane person can make no contract
• Furiosus stipulare non potest nec aliquid negotium agere
• qui non intelligit quid agit
• An insane person who knows not what he is doing
• cannot contract nor transact any business
• Furiosi nulla voluntas est
• A madman has no will
• Furiosus solo furore punitur
• A madman is punished by his madness alone
• Furor contrahi matrimonium non sinit
• quia consensu opus est
• Insanity prevents a marriage from being contracted
• because consent is required
• Ira furor brevis est
• Anger is short insanity
• Furiosus absentis loco est
• A madman is considered as a person who is absent
• abjecta ratione
• omnia cum impetu et furore facit
• A person is insane who
• deprived of reason
• does everything with violence and rage
• does everything with violence and rage

Browse or run a search for Insanity in the American Encyclopedia of Law, the Asian Encyclopedia of Law, the European Encyclopedia of Law, the UK Encyclopedia of Law or the Latin American and Spanish Encyclopedia of Law.

Insanity in Historical Law

You might be interested in the historical meaning of this term. Browse or search for Insanity in Historical Law in the Encyclopedia of Law.

Search for legal acronyms and/or abbreviations containing Insanity in the Legal Abbreviations and Acronyms Dictionary.

You might be also interested in these legal terms:

Mentioned in these terms

Capacity, Diminished Responsibility, Irresistible Impulse, Legal Insanity, Lucid Interval, Lunacy, Madness, Mcnaghten’s Rule, Monomania, Sanity.

Insanity in Law Enforcement

Main Entry: Law Enforcement in the Legal Dictionary. This section provides, in the context of Law Enforcement, a partial definition of insanity.

Resources

See Also

• Law Enforcement Officer
• Police Work
• Law Enforcement Agency

Further Reading

• insanity in A Dictionary of Law Enforcement (Oxford University Press)
• insanity in the Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement
• A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis

Insanity