Intoxication along with insanity, mistake one of the basic principles of English Criminal law that the defendant (D) should be held liable only where she is of sufficient capacity. Professor Hart famously explained this term as “a person is only to be blamed if he has the capacity and fair opportunity to change or adjust his behaviour to the law”.
It is thought that the majority of non fatal offence is committed when the accused was intoxicated. In some circumstances a D who is heavily intoxicated through drinking alcohol or taking drugs may be given a defence by the court. Provided that this defence is very limited in its application as the courts do not wish to encourage offenders to intoxicate themselves in order to escape liability.
It concentrates on situations where the D did the prohibited act, does not have required mental element, (mens rea) but is responsible for the fact that he does not possess it because of his self-induced intoxication. As intoxication can severely impair a person’s capacity to reason and exercise judgment, a D may not be able to foresee risk or develop criminal intent .
The following discussion analyses the three key distinctions drawn by the court in their application of the plea of intoxication :
(1) Is the intoxication voluntary or involuntary?
(2) If voluntary, is the crime charged one of ‘specific’ intent or ‘basic’ intent’?
(3) If basic intent, is the drug involved one of a dangerous nature?
Before analyzing above three issues it is important to emphasize the general limit on the plea of intoxication. Intoxication is not and never has been a ‘defence ‘in itself. A.P Simester suggest in his article “Intoxication is never a defence” that intoxication is an entirely d...
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... mens rea of the offence. The distinction laid down by this case between basic and specific intent crime is obscure and confusing and hence, the court often found them in dilemma in reaching their final judgment in particular case.
The Law Commission in its Report which was published in 1995 [no-229] concluded that the law was satisfactory and not in need of reform. Nevertheless now it lists intoxication as one of its project for reform in second report which published in 2007 and consequently in third report published in 2009.
Finally in conclusion, in order to avoid the pitfall stated above it has been suggested that the law on intoxication should be reformed with an adequate amount of new rules. And it is to be hoped that, before we consign the law forever to the Majewski compromise, there will at least be an attempt to find a better alternative.
In the contents of this paper, four points of view will be discussed on an extremely controversial issue that has an effect on a large percentage of citizens in the United States. The issue at hand is whether the legal age to consume alcohol should be lowered from 21 to 18, and will state a pro and con side, as well as 2 stakeholders for each side of the argument. The stakeholders on the pro side are as follows: Underage consumers of alcohol, businesses that sell and the companies that produce alcohol. The people on the con side of the argument that would want the legal age to remain at 21 include State and Federal Law Enforcement Agencies, as well as the demographic of Parents that would prefer to keep their children from being exposed to alcohol at a potentially young age. As you continue to read the stakeholders opinions and arguments will be explained, after which the author’s personal opinion will be advanced. After doing my own in depth research on the topic, the legal age to consume alcohol should remain at 21 as set by the United States Congress when they passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act (NMDAA) in July of 1984. This act punished every state that allowed persons below 21 years of age to purchase and publicly possess alcoholic beverages by reducing its annual federal highway apportionment by ten percent. (National Minimum Drinking Age Act) This caused all fifty continental U.S. states to set their legal drinking age to 21, and it has remained there for thirty years.
For decades, certain people have been contemplating on how to go about the issue of underage drinking; people of the government, parents, and other individuals concerned in global affairs. The problem is, the issue of underage drinking and the nationwide ineffectiveness of the drinking age law of twenty-one isn't debated and discussed as much and as aggressively as it should be. And the main components of discussion ought to be the matter of binge drinking among teenagers and college students, drinking issues and statistics in foreign countries, and finally, possible solutions for this problem. The main point is that the states of our country can only attempt to enforce the law rather than try approaching the problem in any other way. So for that reason, states should be allowed to figure out and experiment on possible ways to solve this matter on their own without government interference.
The Legal Minimum Drinking Age and Fatal Motor Vehicle Crashes Allan F. Williams, Robert F. Rich, Paul L. Zador and Leon S. Robertson The Journal of Legal Studies , Vol. 4, No. 1 (Jan., 1975), pp. 219-239
Alcohol consumption has been a salient, controversial issue in America, since colonization. In the 1800s and early 1900s, the issue of morality drove opponents of alcohol consumption, leading to Prohibition. Today, however, debate centers on the misuse of alcohol and automobile accidents. In 1984, The National Minimum Drinking Age Act was adopted. Although enacted with worthy intention, increasing the legal drinking age to twenty one has, subsequently, led to many negative issues in society.
In 1984 the national government raised the drinking age from eighteen to twenty-one with the intention of lowering the number of deaths that resulted from drunk driving. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act enforced this change by informing states that if they did not comply they would face a reduction in highway funds under the Federal Aid Act. Upon the ratification of the law the number of traffic fatalities among 18 to 20 year olds dropped thirteen percent. If the minimum legal drinking age were to be changed for eighteen year olds the United States could see a significant n...
Excessive alcohol consumption is a serious public health issue in the United States. It is responsible for the deaths of over 79,000 people annually. Despite massive efforts to combat alcohol abuse since the 1980s, binge drinking has continued to rise. It is especially prevalent amongst underage drinkers, who binge drink at a rate of 90%. Alcohol taxes to fix various issues have been used throughout the history of the United States.
In this paper I plan to include different aspects of alcoholism. I plan to cover the different approached people have towards it and how it affects people’s daily life. Alcoholics do not realize that their actions not only affect them in a bad way, their body and their mind, but also that they affect the people around them and what a huge impact that has on their loved ones. I will include stories that my friends and relatives have provided me with about their experience with alcohol and alcoholics that they had to deal with and the impact that it had on their lives and their surroundings, as well as factual data and statistics that I have found in my research about this topic. Coming to the U.S. from Poland, where the legal age to purchase and consume alcohol is eighteen, things are quite a lot different. I was twelve when I had moved here and I had older cousins which were of the legal...
There is a need for the introduction and implementation of new drunk driving laws by the legislature, because presently the united States drunk driving laws are too lenient. The continuous rate of drunken driving fatalities makes a case that the united States drunk driving laws are too lenient and makes a call for stricter laws. According to Valenti “countries with strict drunk driving penalties have a far lower incidence of accidents than the United States (1). The United States being a first world country is weak in enforcing strict punishment for drunk drivers. Valenti is emphasizing on the fact that the united States need to improve their present laws and be firm in enforcing these new laws. There is a need for the United States to improve on their severity of its drunk driving penalties just the way the other part of the world have done and this is giving them a reduced rate of drunk driving fatalities. The claim of the leniency of the United States drunk driving laws is further stated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), this is a prominent body when it comes to the issue of drunken driving fatalities. It claims that the drunken driving laws are severe enough. “Despite great strides in awareness, education and enforcement in the last two decades the United States still has one of the most lenient drunken driving standards in the world”. (NHTSA of existing laws. There is a need for stricter laws to be introduced as the United States ranks behind the world when it comes to effort to combat drunk driving and more efforts need to be put in place by the implementation of harsher laws so as to reduce the high rate of repeat offenders and first time offenders.
Underaged drinking has become an epidemic within the United States. Starting to consume alcohol at a young age damages the brains developmental process and also leaves behind long term drinking problems for that individual. According to the case file between Heisenberg vs. the State of Missouri, the national average underaged drinking begins at fifteen years of age. Curiosity allows students under the age of twenty-one to want to experiment with toxins like alcohol. These dangerous decision then create the unsafe action to drink and drive. The government should create laws that not only reinforce the existing laws but also alter them, so than young adults are restricted. The legal drinking age of twenty-one should be increased to twenty-five because underaged drinking causes a delay in brain development, it would decrease a young adults curiosity to perform dangerous behaviors and it is also the main cause for car crashes.
It is unfortunate that many people within our society and worldwide suffers from the affects of alcohol addiction. There are many issues associated with this addiction and many times it’s not only the victim that deals with the addiction but also the people in close association with the individual. Alcohol addiction can afflict anyone and knows no limits of its damage that it can do to a person’s life or the people in their lives. Most importantly are the ones whom seek help for their addiction as it becomes a lifelong healing period for them. It has become clear that constant consumption of alcohol leads to addiction. It has also become clearer with the laws and policies that have been drawn up to combat drunk drivers that it is not a normal thing to do anymore as was thought to be normal in the late 60’s and early 70’s. This is not normal behaviour and it becomes clearer as the laws for drinking and driving is enforced by law enforcement officers. It is a duty for addiction workers to help in the aid of these problems and its laws and policies that help in putting a stop to some of the problems that arise from this addiction.
Alcohol is an illicit drug that is often used in society. People consume alcohol for many different reasons: celebration, depression, anxiety, boredom, and peer pressure. Alcohol targets different culture, gender and ages of people. In 2012, it has been reported that teenage students have consumed alcohol (more than just a few sips) by the end of high school, and more than 1/2 have done so by 8th grade. It is incredibly simple for a teenager to find a way to attain alcohol. Even though it is illegal, it is available for their disposal through liquor cabinets at home or even older friends who buy it for them. Since there are so many possible outcomes of using alcohol, should the minimum legal drinking age be lowered to the age of eighteen? This paper will cover the pros and cons of alcohol among teenagers and weather the drinking age should remain the age of Twenty-One and the history of how it was set at that age.
It is apparent that insanity, automatism and diminished responsibility share similarities and differences in their range of application and in definition. Insanity and automatism are most similar in that they both are full defences (with different outcomes) which exist when a defendant does not have the necessary actus reus or mens rea, whereas diminished responsibility is a partial defence which only applies to murder. The source of the defendant’s mental abnormality is the greatest point of distinction between all of the defences. Whether the abnormality is internal, external or a diagnosed medical condition will play a significant role in which defence can be used. As defences they are all used for a similar reason, and that is to eliminate or reduce liability for criminal offences.
Intoxication: This means that the parties to the contract should not be under the influence of any alcoholic product such as drugs or drinks at the time of making of the contract. The case of Blomley v Ryan can be a good example of Intoxication. In this case Blomley was to purchase a farm from Ryan and at the time of contract Ryan was under the influence of alcohol so the contact was not enforceable.
There are two theories that justify punishment: retributivism according to which punishment ensures that justice is done, and utilitarianism which justifies punishment because it prevents further harm being done. The essence of defences is that those who do not freely choose to commit an offence should not be punished, especially in those cases where the defendant's actions are involuntary. All three of these defences concern mental abnormalities. Diminished responsibility is a partial statutory defence and a partial excuse. Insanity and automatism are excuses and defences of failure of proof. While automatism and diminished responsibility can only be raised by the defendant, insanity can be raised by the defence or the prosecution. It can be raised by the prosecution when the defendant pleads diminished responsibility or automatism. The defendant may also appeal against the insanity verdict. With insanity and diminished responsibility, the burden of proof is on the defendant. With automatism the burden of proof is on the prosecution and they must negate an automatism claim beyond reasonable doubt.
The problem of alcohol use is very relevant nowadays. Today alcohol consumption characterized by vast numbers in the world. All of society is suffering from this, but primarily jeopardized the younger generation: children, teenagers, young people, and the health of future mothers. Because alcohol is particularly active effect on the body that are not formed, gradually destroying it. The harm of alcohol abuse is evident. It is proved that when alcohol is ingested inside the body, it is carried by blood to all organs and has harmful effect on them until destruction. Systematic use of alcohol develops a dangerous disease such as alcoholism. Alcoholism is dangerous to human health, but it is curable as other diseases. The big problem is that most of the alcohol products which are made in private places contain many toxic substances, defective products often leads to poisoning and even death. All this has negative impact on society and its cultural values.