Addressing Uncertainty in the Defences of Self-Defence, Diminished Responsibility, and Provocation

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Prendergast
Keyword(s):  
Self Defence ◽  
Diminished Responsibility

When Self-Defence Fails

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Sheehy ◽  
Julie Stubbs ◽  
Julia Tolmie
Keyword(s):  
Self Defence

scholarly journals Costa, cancer and coronavirus: contractualism as a guide to the ethics of lockdown

2021 ◽  
pp. medethics-2020-107103
Author(s):  
Stephen David John ◽  
Emma J Curran
Keyword(s):  
Moral Theory ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Core ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Moral Distinction ◽  
Self Defence

Lockdown measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic involve placing huge burdens on some members of society for the sake of benefiting other members of society. How should we decide when these policies are permissible? Many writers propose we should address this question using cost-benefit analysis (CBA), a broadly consequentialist approach. We argue for an alternative non-consequentialist approach, grounded in contractualist moral theorising. The first section sets up key issues in the ethics of lockdown, and sketches the apparent appeal of addressing these problems in a CBA frame. The second section argues that CBA fundamentally distorts the normative landscape in two ways: first, in principle, it allows very many morally trivial preferences—say, for a coffee—might outweigh morally weighty life-and-death concerns; second, it is insensitive to the core moral distinction between victims and vectors of disease. The third section sketches our non-consequentialist alternative, grounded in Thomas Scanlon’s contractualist moral theory. On this account, the ethics of self-defence implies a strong default presumption in favour of a highly restrictive, universal lockdown policy: we then ask whether there are alternatives to such a policy which are justifiable to all affected parties, paying particular attention to the complaints of those most burdened by policy. In the fourth section, we defend our contractualist approach against the charge that it is impractical or counterintuitive, noting that actual CBAs face similar, or worse, challenges.

A DOUBLE SERMOCINATIO AND A RESOLVED DILEMMA IN CICERO'S PRO PLANCIO

2014 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 214-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Grillo
Keyword(s):  
Public Image ◽  
Final Part ◽  
Ancient Rome ◽  
Historical Contextualization ◽  
Self Defence ◽  
Imaginary Dialogue ◽  
Main Strategy

In the litigious world of ancient Rome patroni were often torn between conflicting bonds of loyalty, and this is the dilemma that Cicero laments in the exordium of the Pro Plancio (5). Both the prosecutor, Laterensis, and the accused, Plancius, were personal friends, and Cicero bemoans the quandary: either upsetting Laterensis by comparing him unfavourably with Plancius, or letting down his client. A second problem for Cicero was that the prosecution also took the opportunity to impugn him as the creature of Pompey and Caesar, so that Cicero had to defend himself as much as his client. Two examples of sermocinatio (an imaginary dialogue with a personified entity) helped him to face these challenges: these sermocinationes are Cicero's main strategy for getting out of the conundrum but, in spite of their relevance to his line of argument, they have received very little attention. In this article, after a brief historical contextualization, I analyse each sermocinatio, arguing that Cicero cunningly sets aside the dilemma of comparing two friends by constructing an alternative comparison between Laterensis and himself, and that such a comparison, which is highly selective, re-establishes his own positive public image. The two sermocinationes, moreover, also display some meaningful textual references which have remained unnoticed: in the final part of this paper I set them against the backdrop of Plato's Crito and of Cicero's letter to Lentulus (Fam. 1.9), arguing that the reference to the Crito supports Cicero's strategy of contrasting himself with Laterensis and that comparison with Fam. 1.9 illuminates the connection between the Pro Plancio and Cicero's broader post reditum self-defence.

Criminal insanity and psychiatric diagnoses in Greek penal cases

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S593-S593
Author(s):  
G. Tzeferakos ◽  
M. Papaliaga ◽  
C. Papageorgiou ◽  
P. Bali ◽  
A. Douzenis
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Substance Use Disorder ◽  
Criminal Responsibility ◽  
Common Mental Disorder ◽  
Penal Code ◽  
Axis I ◽  
Criminal Insanity ◽  
Court Of Appeal ◽  
Diminished Responsibility

IntroductionTo our knowledge, few studies address the issue of criminal responsibility among psychiatric offenders. In Greece, articles 34 and 36 of the penal code regulate criminal insanity and diminished responsibility, respectively.ObjectivesThe objective of the present study was to provide psychiatric/legal data considering the appeal to articles 34/36 of the Greek penal code.MethodsLegal case files of 100 adult subjects, 90 male/10 female, 88 Greeks/12 foreigners were examined.ResultsAccording to the first degree court, one defendant was found criminally insane, 29 with partial responsibility, while the rest were regarded as fully capable. The decisions of the court of appeal/the supreme court of appeal were 2 criminally insane, 36 partially responsible and 62, fully criminally responsible. The decisions were unanimous in 78% of the cases.The most common diagnoses were schizophrenia spectrum psychosis (18%), antisocial/borderline/mixed personality disorder (15%) and substance use disorder (15%). Court decisions of criminal insanity/diminished responsibility were higher when the perpetrator had an Axis I diagnosis (47.5%), significantly lower in cases of personality disorder (22.2%) and even lower in cases of substance use disorder (16.7%). In patients with prior hospitalizations the percentage of criminal insanity/diminished responsibility was 55.6%, significantly higher than in cases without (24.4%).ConclusionsSchizophrenia is the most common mental disorder correlated with offenders criminally insane/partially responsible, while a history of psychiatric hospitalization is a very strong positive predictive factor for the successful appeal of the aforementioned articles.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Depression, Homicide and Diminished Responsibility: New Scottish directions

2003 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-202
Author(s):  
Philip Collins ◽  
Thomas White
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Depression ◽  
Trial Judge ◽  
Appeal Court ◽  
Diminished Responsibility

In a recent Scottish Appeal Court opinion ( Kim Louise Scarsbrook or Galbraith v. Her Majesty's Advocate, 2001) it was successfully argued by the appellant that her conviction of murder was unsound inter-alia on the basis of overly restrictive pre-existing definitions of diminished responsibility in Scottish law resulting in unduly narrow directions being given by the trial judge to the jury in her case. We felt it timely to present a revised overview of the defence of diminished responsibility in Scotland and to consider the issues surrounding its applicability in cases of clinical depression. The psychiatric literature regarding depression and homicide is reviewed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document