South African criminal law has accepted that it is only fair to
punish those who - if they do wrong - are responsible for doing
wrong. Responsibility - that the accused must be blameworthy -
finds expression in several specific requirements of South African
criminal law: voluntariness, fault, and, in particular, capacity,
into which the `insanity' defence falls. The Responsible Mind in
South African Criminal Law critically analyses these requirements,
and includes an empirical component in this analysis. The book also
identifies and critically analyses the underlying model of
responsibility adopted in our law and considers the alternatives.
The conclusion from the empirical component and critical analysis
is that the specific requirements are unclear and even incoherent,
and that this is a function of the underlying model of
responsibility, which identifies random capricious and arbitrary
conduct as responsible conduct. Alternative models of
responsibility are discussed, and a `compatibilist' model of reason
sensitivity is selected as a better foundation for criminal
responsibility. The Responsible Mind in South African Criminal Law
discusses the implications of adopting this model for the various
specific requirements of South African criminal law and proposes
appropriate modifications. Ultimately a new model of criminal
responsibility and a revised set of specific requirements are
proposed, together with a proposed new statutory test for
responsibility.
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