There is no other precept to determine the inherent fairness of a society than being able to dispense justice. Central to this is to punish the guilty and even more central is to protect the innocent. Philosophically there is a very thin line between innocence and guilt ; which is what accounts for the phenomenal number of miscarriages of justice we have observed in the past and continue to witness in the present. The greyest area in determining guilt/innocence of an individual in nearly every system of jurisprudence is when it deals with the issue of insanity defense.And it is in this area that medical professionals have a central role to play.
Unsurprisingly , one of the reasons for the disarray is the total absence of consensus as to what should constitute insanity defense. Different countries have differing standards and operate on them. Each one of them carries some merit but the…
