On 14th May 1610, François Ravaillac, a delusional mystic, assassinated King Henri IV. Under the Ancien Regime, regicide was considered as a supreme act of patricide and received the ultimate punishment even if the perpetrator showed obvious signs of insanity. What would the situation be today? A study of this notorious historical episode provides a reflection on the way dangerousness linked to...

ing the reasoning offender in this way, Norrie argues, makes it possible to treat the offender as an isolated, responsible agent. And because rational choice approaches may similarly appear to decontextualize criminal reasoning they give further credence to justice model approaches. More importantly, by neglecting the broader social context in this way, rational choice approaches may encourage ...

This article describes interaction in a criminal (adult) court in which adolescents are punished. As a result of the particular set of courtroom dynamics and the youthfulness of the defendants in this court, two potentially conflicting ideas about punishment are expressed concurrently: (1) proportionality, and (2) reduced culpability among youth. I demonstrate how judges talk to adolescent defe...

Almost all of the world's legal systems recognize the "M'Naghten" exception to criminal responsibility: the inability to appreciate the wrongfulness of action. This exception rests on the assumption that punishment is morally justified only if the defendant was able to choose whether to do wrong. Jurists and jurisdictions differ, however, on whether to extend M'Naghten's logic to cases where th...

A defendant is criminally responsible for his action only if he is shown to have engaged in a guilty act-actus reus (eg for larceny, voluntarily taking someone else's property without permission)-while possessing a guilty mind-mens rea (eg knowing that he had taken someone else's property without permission, intending not to return it)-and lacking affirmative defenses (eg the insanity defense o...

The purpose of this article is to explain the reasons for adopting, in Italy, the principle of mandatory criminal prosecution. This rule is closely connected to the role and functions of Italian public prosecutors. The supreme guarantee deriving from the rule governing the mandatory status of criminal prosecution is to safeguard the equal treatment of all citizens before criminal law. This is p...