Toronto Criminal Lawyers Blog

Sec. 16 of the Criminal Code reads as follows:

1. Defense of mental disorder – No person is criminally responsible for an act committed or an omission made while suffering from a mental disorder that rendered the person incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of the act or omission or of knowing that it was wrong.

2. Presumption – Every person is presumed not to suffer from a mental disorder so as to be exempt from criminal responsibility by virtue of subsection (1), until the contrary is proved on the balance of probabilities.

3. Burden of Proof – The burden of proof that an accused was suffering from a mental disorder so as to be exempt from criminal responsibility is on the party that raises the issue.

In 1992, Bill C-30 came into force which reformed (at least partially) the law at it relates to the defence of “not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder”. The underlying premise of the Bill was to modernize the psychiatric terminology used in the old bill, and to reform the powers of the Mental Health Review Board in deciding how long the accused should be detained. This, in effect, amounted to indeterminate detention times at the discretion of mental health authorities. Under this Bill, the authority to detain was transferred to the Provincial Review Boards who were subject to new capping provisions (such as life for 1st degree murder, etc…). However, the capping provisions are yet to be proclaimed (meaning, brought into effect), and thus, the old regime of indeterminate sentences still prevails. Additionally, the Bill emphasizes that “every person is presumed not to suffer from a mental disorder, until the contrary is proved on the balance of probabilities” – which is commonly known as the civil standard of proof, as opposed to the criminal standard of beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, the burden of proof is on the party who raises the issue. In the case of R v. Chaulk, the presumption of sanity was held to be constitutional, in spite of the fact that the evidentiary burden shifts to the defence. Where the defence was not raised during the course of the trial, or was rejected, the trial judge only has normal sentencing options available to him. In other words, he has no power to order psychiatric treatment in a prison facility. 

In the case of Cooper v. R, one of the leading cases on the NCR defense, the following legal issues were resolved by the Supreme Court of Canada: In Cooper, the Court considered the meaning to be given to the phrase “disease of the mind”, and the interpretation to be given to the words “incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of an act”.  

The Court found that the term “disease of the mind” was a legal concept, to be determined by the trier of fact (judge or jury), and not a medical term. It is the function of the psychiatrist to describe the accused’s mental condition and how it is considered from a medical point of view, but it is for the judge to decide whether the condition described constitutes a “disease of the mind”. As a general guide, “disease of the mind” means any illness, disorder or abnormal condition which impairs the human mind and its functioning (excluding self-induced states caused by alcohol or drugs). The disease must manifest itself with such intensity as to render the accused incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of the offence or of knowing that it is wrong. Once the judge has determined that there is any evidence that the accused did suffer from such a disease (in legal terms), the question of fact as to whether section 16 has been established (on the balance of probabilities) must be left with the jury. The jury must determine whether the accused was suffering from a disease of the mind at the time the criminal act was committed. They jury must also be satisfied that at the relevant time, either the accused was incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of the act, or that he did not know the act was wrong.

In regards to the second issue, a fundamental difference arises between “knowing” the nature and quality of the act, and “appreciating” the nature and quality of the act. The former denotes only an awareness of the physical act, while the latter requires a level of understanding of the act which is more than mere knowledge that it’s taking place. In other words, there must be an appreciation of the factors involved in the act and a mental capacity to measure and foresee the consequences of the conduct. This formulation is unique to Canada. In refining this issue somewhat, the Supreme Court in R v. Abbey held that the requirement that the accused be able to perceive the consequences of a physical act is a restatement, specific to the defense of insanity, of the principle of mens rea, or intention as to the consequences of an act, as a required element in the commission of a crime. In other words, the accused who suffers from a disease of the mind which renders him unable to appreciate the nature and quality of his act cannot be said to have the requisite mens rea (or guilty mind) for the underlying offence. 

Prior to the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Chaulk, the word “wrong”, as it appears in sec. 16(1), had been interpreted to mean “legally” wrong. In Chaulk, the Court reconsidered its earlier position and decided that the term means “morally” wrong. The Court was of the view that the term should allow for an accused person who believed his actions were morally justifiable under the circumstances, but did know that they were illegal. The Court justified its position by stating that a person may well be aware that an act is contrary to law, but by some reason of “natural imbecility” or disease of the mind, is at the same time incapable of knowing that the act is morally wrong in the circumstances according to the moral standards of society. As an example, the Court considered the example of an individual who kills in the belief that it is in response to a divine order, and therefore, not morally wrong.

One should remember that a successful “insanity defence” does not result in an individual being freed immediately. An individual who is found “not criminally responsible” will be the subject of Review Board hearings where their mental health status is reviewed on an ongoing basis to determine the seriousness of the threat that they constitute to the public if released.

Contact Kostman and Pyzer, Barristers, for all your criminal defence needs.

Usually a trial ends with a finding of either “guilty” or “not guilty”. However, sometimes the court will find an individual “not guilty by reason of mental disorder”. These individuals actually committed the acts they are accused of, but because of some sort of mental disorder are unable of possessing the “guilty mind” the law requires to find an individual guilty. Thus, they are deemed Not Criminally Responsible for their actions, or “NCR”.

Not every person with a mental illness will be able to raise a successful NCR defence. In fact, NCR defences are only available to individuals who have certain forms of mental illness. The requirements an individual must meet to raise a successful NCR defence are outlined in the Criminal Code of Canada.

According to the Criminal Code, every individual is presumed to be sane under the law, unless proven otherwise. In order to raise a successful NCR defence, one party to the trial must rebut that assumption by showing that the individual’s mental illness has all of the components required by statute to qualify the individual as NCR. The first requirement is the existence of a mental disorder. The second requirement is incapacity on one of two grounds as a result of that disorder.

The meaning of the phrase “existence of a mental disorder” has received a lot of attention from judges and legal scholars. A mental disorder is traditionally defined as a “disease of the mind”. According to the Supreme Court of Canada in the 1980 case Cooper v. The Queen, a “disease of the mind” is any illness, disorder or abnormal condition that impairs the human mind and its functioning. Thus, a disease of the mind is any medically recognized disorder, but does not include self-induced mental states (through drugs or alcohol) or transitory mental states (such as extreme anger which passes).

However, just because an individual possesses a “disease of the mind” does not mean they will necessarily be able to raise a successful NCR defence. In order for the defence to be successful, the court must find that one of two kinds of incapacity defined in the Criminal Code occurred as a result of the disorder and were present at the time of the event in question. The first form of incapacity is an inability to appreciate the nature and quality of the act. In order to understand the nature and quality of an act, an individual must be able to know what he or she is doing and understand the natural consequences of the act. It is not sufficient that the accused does not understand the legal consequences of the act or has an inappropriate emotional reaction to the event. Thus, for example, if the accused was to shoot someone, he could raise a successful defence of NCR if he did not know he was shooting a person or was unable to appreciate that shooting a person could result in that person’s death. However, if the accused simply did not believe that he could be arrested / punished for shooting another person or if he did not feel any guilt or remorse for shooting the person, he would not have a defence of NCR.

The second form of incapacity is that the accused is unable to appreciate that an act is morally wrong. According to the Supreme Court in R. v. Oomen, in order to be considered sane and therefore criminally responsible, the accused must have the capacity to know that the act is wrong according to the ordinary moral standards of a reasonable member of society. In other words, if the accused lacks the basic capacity to understand that society would consider their actions morally wrong, the NCR defence may be available to him. Thus, an individual diagnosed as a psychopath, who does not believe that murder is morally wrong but has the capacity to understand that society believes that murder is morally wrong would not be eligible for this defence. On the other hand, an individual diagnosed with schizophrenia who believes that the individual they killed is the devil and god instructed them to kill that devil, may be able to benefit from the NCR defence, because they believe that what they are doing is actually morally right.

When an individual is found to be Not Criminally Responsible and therefore not guilty by reason of mental disorder they are not necessarily released back into the general population. A Provincial Review Board comprised of experts in the area will review the verdict and determine whether the individual should be put into the NCR stream. Upon determining that an individual is NCR, the Board will decide what action should be taken in response to the individual’s actions. Since the individual is not considered morally to blame for their actions, the Board will try to make the least intrusive recommendation possible.  The Board may choose to grant an absolute discharge, a conditional discharge (psychiatric releases, not sentence dispositions), or may decide to detain the individual in a psychiatric hospital. If the individual is granted an absolute discharge they are free to go; However, all other dispositions require a mandatory review every 12 months by the Board. Individuals detained in psychiatric hospitals are given indeterminate sentences to be reviewed on a regular basis by the Board.

There are several pros and cons to an NCR defence. On one hand, individuals who are truly mentally ill are directed into institutions designed to deal with their medical conditions instead of being placed into the regular jail population. On the other hand, psychiatric hospitals are often overcrowded, under staffed, and unable to provide the proper treatment NCR individuals would benefit from in the long run. The NCR defence can be raised by the by a criminal defence lawyer, however it can also be raised by the Crown or by the court (i.e., by the judge), if any one of them believe the accused individual should be put in the NCR stream. Defence lawyers therefore can be called upon to argue either side of the NCR defence depending on what is in the best interest of their client.