Gd. Glancy et Jm. Bradford, Canadian landmark case: Regina v. Swain: Translating M'Naughton into twentieth century Canadian, J AM A PSYC, 27(2), 1999, pp. 301-307
Citations number
3
Categorie Soggetti
Psychiatry
Journal title
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PSYCHIATRY AND THE LAW
Since their adoption in 1892, the insanity laws in the Criminal Code of Can
ada have utilized a modified M'Naughton rule. The Department of Justice beg
an work in the 1970s to update these laws. In 1983, soon after the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms was proclaimed, the case of Regina v. Swain
provided the impetus for this change. In 1990 the Supreme Court of Canada
struck down the old law, giving parliament a specific time to pass new legi
slation. Bill C-30 modernized the language of the Criminal Code and introdu
ced a number of procedural safeguards to protect the rights of the accused.