Vickipedia

LUNACY. By the law of England, as well as of all other countries, the presumption is in favor of a man’s sanity, even though he be born deaf, dumb, and blind; and if the fact is disputed, it always lies on the party alleging it to prove it. Sometimes a person in a state supposed to be that of a lunatic makes a contract, and is sued upon it; in such a case, he may set up as a defence that he was a lunatic, and the proof will consist of his conduct and actions at and previous to the time in question. If, however, the other party did not know of the lunacy, and took no advantage, the lunatic will not be allowed to recover back moneys which have been paid by him in pursuance of his contract. Though the presumption is in favor of the sanity of a person, yet, when once insanity has existed, the presumption is reversed, and then the law presumes no lucid interval or restoration to sanity until it is proved; and it is extremely difficult to prove a lucid interval, for the law requires very clear and conclusive proof of that fact, and all the circumstances must be carefully scanned. It is difficult or impossible to define in words what is insanity or lunacy, it being a negative state, and merely an inference from the acts, conduct, and bodily condition of the person. An idiot is said to be a person who was born with a radical infirmity of mind, and whose state is one of perpetual infirmity, incapable of cure or restoration; whereas a lunatic is one who is sometimes of good and sound mind, and sometimes not; he has lucid intervals, and is assumed to be more or less capable of restoration to sanity. A person is said to be, in legal phraseology, of unsound mind, who is not an idiot, nor a lunatic, nor yet of a merely weak mind, but, by reason of a morbid condition of intellect, is as incapable of managing his affairs as if he were a lunatic. Though it is difficult to define lunacy or insanity, there are various testswhich are more or less accepted in everyday life as strong evidence. Idiocy is accompanied by a vacant look, &c., while insanity is accompanied by some frenzy or extravagant delusion. The physiology of idiocy and lunacy is a separate subject of investigation, and is part of medical jurisprudence, to which a few medical men confine their attention, and their assistance is often required by courts of law when inquiring into this state of mind, though their theories are jealously scrutinized.

As a general rule, an idiot or a lunatic is subject to civil incapacity. He cannot enter into contracts or transact general business, and what he does is a nullity. Thus he cannot make or revoke a will, or enter into marriage, or act as an executor or administrator, or become a bankrupt, or be a witness in a court of justice, or vote at elections, and such like. But, as a general rule, a lunatic is liable in damages for committing a wrong, such as a trespass, and he is liable for necessaries supplied to him, and he may be arrested for debt, and his property may be taken in such cases, as in the case of sane persons. With regard to criminal responsibilty, the law was fully considered in the case of M’Naughton, who, in 1843, shot Mr. Drummond at Charing Cross by mistake for Sir Robert Peel, and the English judges were called on by the House of Lords to state their opinion as to the right mode of putting the questions to a jury when the defence of insanity is raised. The judges said that a person laboring under an insane delusion as to one subject is liable to punishment, if at the time of committing the crime he knew he was acting contrary to law. In general cases, to establish want of responsibility, it must be proved that the party accused was laboring under such a defect of reason, from disease of mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing, or, if he did know it, that lie did not know he was doing what was wrong. Where the party is laboring under an insane delusion as to existing facts, and commits a crime in consequence thereof, it depends on the nature of the delusion whether he is excused. Thus, if he insanely believes that A intended to kill him, and he kills A, as he supposes, in self-defence, he would be exempt from punishment. But if his delusion was that A had inflicted a serious injury to his character and fortune, and he killed A in revenge for such supposed injury, then he would be liable to punishment. When a person is acquitted of crime on the ground of insanity, he is liable to be confined in prison during her Majesty’s pleasure.

So long as a person is not actually declared insane or an idiot, he has a right to manage his own affairs; and the only way, in England, in which he can be deprived of such right used to be by a writ de lunatico inquirendo, issuing out of Chancery, which authorized the empannelling of a jury to decide whether he was a lunatic or not. The custody and care of lunatics were vested in the crown; and the Lord Chancellor, as the depositary of this jurisdiction, issued the writ on petition.

The practice has now been considerably altered by various statutes, but, as a general rule, it is still the law, that, unless a person has been officially declared a lunatic, either by the verdict of a jury, or by a certificate of a master in lunacy, he is still entitled to manage his own affairs. In England and Ireland, there is no intermediate state called imbecility or weakness of mind, with which the law interferes, as there is in Scotland (seeINTERDICTION,IMBECILITY), and hence, if a weak person is imposed on, it is treated merely as a case of fraud, the weakness forming an element of such fraud; but there is no machinery for restraining the natural right, even of weak-minded persons, to do what they like with their property. As regards idiots and lunatics, the mode in which they are judicially declared to be so, is as follows : There are certain persons called masters in lunacy, whose business it is to conduct the inquiries which are necessary, and preside over the jury, and they also visit lunatics in certain cases. The commissioners of lunacy form a Board, which supervises generally the lunatic asylums and licensed houses for reception of lunatics. The incapacity of a lunatic or idiot is conclusive established by the verdict of a jury under an inquisition de lunatico inquirendo, held before a master of lunacy; or, if the case is too clear for a jury, and where the party has not mental capacity to declare his wish on the subject, by a certificate of a master in lunacy. The Lord Chancellor may direct the trial to take place before one of the common-law judges, and the evidence is to be confined to the lunatic’s conduct during the previous two years only. The costs of the trial are in the Lord Chancellor’s discretion. If the party has property, the Lord Chancellor then appoints, on petition, a committee of the estate or of the person of the lunatic, and the visitors in lunacy must visit such lunatic at least once a year, unless the lunatic is in a private house unlicensed, in which case he must be visited four times each year. The lunatic is thus kept under the immediate control of the Court of Chancery, which manages his property through the agency of the committee and of the visitors in lunacy. But as many lunatics have no property, or property of a trifling nature, it has long been found necessary to provide asylums and registered houses for the reception of lunatics, all which are more or less under control of the commissioners in lunacy. Houses kept for the reception of lunatics are either provided by the counties, and calledcounty asylums, or they are hospitals founded by charitable donors, or they are mere private houses, kept for purposes of profit t>y individuals. County asylums were first established in 1808 {seeLUNATIC ASYLUM).The justices of every county are bound to provide such an asylum, or to join with some other parties in keeping one, the expense being defrayed out of the county rates, and a committee of justices being appointed as visitors, to see that the statute is complied with.

The object of the county asylum is to receive the lunatic paupers of the county. As a general rule, it is incumbent on the parish officers of each parish to report to the neighboring justices any case of a lunatic pauper being in their parish. In some cases of a harmless description, such paupers may be kept in the workhouse; but in other cases, on the matter being reported to the justices, the latter order the paupers to be brought before them or examination, and then send them to the county asylum; the parish to which the pauper belongs—i.e., in which he is legally settled—being liable to defray the maintainance; but if the parish which is legally bound to support the pauper cannot be discovered, then the expense is to be charged to the county. If the pauper cannot be examined by the justices, the medical officer and a clergyman may sign a certificate, which is taken to be evidence of the lunacy. As to private houses, no person is allowed to receive two or more lunatics, unless such house has been previously licensed by the commissioners in lunacy, which license is only given after inspection, and a report as to its sanitary arrangements and other items of management. No person can be legally received into such licensed house without a written order from the person sending him, and the medical certificates of two physicians, surgeons, or apothecaries. The keepers of such houses are liable to visitation by the commissioners, and to render regular reports as to all particulars concerning the admission, death, removal, discharge, or escape of patients. The commissioners have power to visit at unexpected times, and to receive reports from other visitors. The commissioners may discharge persons who seem to be detained without sufficient cause.

In Scotland, the law differs in several respects from the above. Idiots and lunatics are often called fatuous and furious persons respectively; and there is an intermediate state called imbecility or weakness of mind, upon evidence of which the relations may apply to the Court of Session for Judicial Interdiction (q. v.), which has the effect of protecting the imbecile from squandering ‘his heritable property. The care and custody of lunatics and idiots belong to the Court of Session, which may appoint a curator bonis or judicial factor to take charge of the estate, and a curator or tutor dative to take charge of the lunatic’s person. A party is cognosced as a fatuous or furious person by a jury presided over by the sheriff. The recent statutory provisions concerning Scotch lunatics are contained in the statutes 20 and 21 Vict. c. 71, 31 and 22 Vict. c. 89, and 25 and 26 Vict. c. 54. There is also a Board called the Commissioners in Lunacy for Scotland, who may grant licenses for private asylums. They may also give special licenses to occupiers of houses for the reception of lunatics, not exceeding four in number, subject to rules and regulations. Counties and parishes may contract for accommodation of their lunatic paupers. Minute provisions are contained in these statutes as to the mode of treatment and visitation of lunatics. For the various kinds of mental alienation, see INSANITY.