A New Attempt To Judge The Criteria Of Criminal Responsibility For The Mentally Disordered Offenders

The existence and the degree of responsibility are directly related to determine a nature of a criminal case and handle it,which is one of the main arguments in criminal law.In China,the legislative mode for mental disorders’ criminal responsibility is to combine medicine with law,however,there has not yet formed a unified standard to judge it.This article based on criminal law and psychiatry,etc,beginning with the overview of mental disorders’ criminal responsibility,considering the mental disorders as an interlaced concept of medicine and law,moreover,lying the key to judge the criminal responsibility in the ability to control and distinguish;secondly discussed the nature and status of mental disorders’ criminal responsibility,therefore the opinions suggests its nature as crime ability and clarifies its status equal as Theory of Responsibility Elements has been agreed;then we introduced the judging standard of mental disorders’ criminal responsibility,which has been generally adopted by the common law and civil law countries,further discussed the merits of the judging standard that combining medicine with law;finally,we made a new attempt to improve and complete the standard,emphasizing the four principles of grasping the main subject,the time,the class and the content.As the main subject,we should always adhere to the leading position of the judge.Basing on the judgment given by the psychiatric experts,saying if and what type the mental disorder there is,the evaluation must be independently made by the judge.When necessary,the judge can also demand the psychological experts to jointly determine the psychological condition of the person concerned,with the opinions suggested by the psychiatric and psychological experts,integrating other evidences,appropriately considered the law and social morality sentiment,and judge will then be able to make final confirmation of the mental disorders’ criminal responsibility;As the time principle,the criterion of "retrospective method" is adopted.Dividing the on-going as “before”、“during”and “after”so as to make better judgment,combing the relevant evidences to trace the criminal psychological condition of the person concerned so as to consider how it interferes its responsibility;As the class,on the basis of the Trisection System,the judge can make some assumptions when determining three conditions as full criminal responsibility 、no criminal responsibility or limited criminal responsibility,then came to the final conclusion by referring the case and the situation of person concerned as well as excluding two of the three conditions.As the content,we shall make judgment on the basis of grasping the specific details of control ability and distinguish ability;In the end of the article,we put a classical case into practice,using the above four judging principles to consolidate our standpoint,and then further clarify its extended meaning.