Closed petition Reform the law on the defence of Insanity to benefit the mentally ill

Closed on 3 May 2017

The Law Commission Report in 2013 recommended a new defence with a special verdict of "not criminally responsible by reason of a recognised medical condition".
Unfortunately this slipped through government policy making and has been ignored since.

The current law on insanity was made in 1848 when psychaitric illness was hardly understood.
Despite huge developments in understanding, diagnosis and treating mental illness, the M'Naughten Rules on insanity have remained unchanged.
Reintroducing the proposed reform by the Law Commission would mean that people with actual medical conditions won't be excluded by the law and will stop the mentally/physically ill from pleading guilty to avoid the stigma of being classed as insane.