Citation

Johnston EL, Runyan KD, Silva FJ, Maldonado Fuentes F. Int. J. Law Psychiatry 2023; 91: e101919.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ijlp.2023.101919

PMID

37713964

Abstract

This article reviews the legal frameworks of diminished criminal responsibility in eighteen civil law jurisdictions across the globe-Brazil, Chile, China, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Turkey. Specifically, it reports the legal standards and main features of partial responsibility, associated penalty reductions, and potential dispositions following a partial responsibility finding. It also surveys empirical data on the prevalence of diminished responsibility as compared to criminal nonresponsibility. This article, which reflects contemporary penal codes and draws from both English and non-English sources, is the only known existing source to compile these partial responsibility standards or to delineate their precise sentencing consequences. It is also the only known source in English to describe Portugal's and Chile's treatment of diminished responsibility. Providing a comparative overview of graduated responsibility in nearly twenty countries invites global discussion on whether and how society should recognize partial responsibility, as well as the punitive and therapeutic consequences that should attend this finding.

Language: en

Keywords

Comparative; Criminal responsibility; Criminal sentencing; Diminished responsibility; Involuntary treatment; Mental disorder