LANDMARK CASE

M'Naghten's Case

(1843) 10 Cl and F 200 · House of Lords (UK) · Criminal law

At a glance

Citation: (1843) 10 Cl and F 200
Court: House of Lords (UK)
Area of law: Criminal law
In one line: The M'Naghten rules: the person must not know the nature of the act or that it was wrong due to a disease of the mind.

1 Facts

Daniel M'Naghten killed a man under a delusion and was acquitted on grounds of insanity, which led to questions to the judges.

2 Issue

When is a person not liable because of insanity?

3 What the court decided

The M'Naghten rules: the person must not know the nature of the act or that it was wrong due to a disease of the mind.

4 Why it matters

The basis of the unsoundness of mind defence in Indian law.

5 Think about it

Is the test too narrow for modern psychiatry?

6 Analyse it yourself

Read the full judgment from an official source or a law database, then brief it in seven steps: facts, issues, arguments, decision, ratio, obiter and significance. Always check the citation before you rely on it.

7 More cases on Criminal law

Abhayanand Mishra v. State of Bihar AIR 1961 SC 1698
Amish Devgan v. Union of India (2021) 1 SCC 1
Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab (1980) 2 SCC 684
Balwant Singh v. State of Punjab (1995) 3 SCC 214
Barendra Kumar Ghosh v. Emperor AIR 1925 PC 1
Basdev v. State of PEPSU AIR 1956 SC 488

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