This petition was submitted during the 2015-2017 parliament
Petition Reform the law on the defence of Insanity to benefit the mentally ill
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.
More details
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.
This petition closed early because of a General Election Find out more on the Petitions Committee website
33 signatures
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10,000 signatures required to get a government response