Constructing criminal insanity: The roles of legislators, judges and experts in Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands

Linda Gröning*, Unn K. Haukvik, Gerben Meynen, Susanna Radovic

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

This article provides a discussion about criminal insanity regulation in Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands, with a focus on the roles of legislators, judges and experts in the concretisation of the legal meaning of criminal insanity. The authors recognise that these three countries reflect different ideal type rule constructions that are interesting to study comparatively. The article addresses the following overall questions: To what extent and in what way do the different rule constructions also involve different views on the roles of legislators, judges and experts? And in case of competing models, which is the better solution? To investigate and eventually answer these questions, the authors analyse the content and legislative considerations of the relevant rules, how these rules are applied and understood by judges and experts, and how different understandings of insanity, of legislators, judges and experts, depend on each other. The authors show how the different rule constructions represent different considerations on the adequate roles of the legislator, judges and experts. They argue that what is important is not what precise division of roles that is settled, but that this interplay functions to secure clear and robust rules, and that each of the three countries has room for improvement in this regard.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)390-410
Number of pages21
JournalNew Journal of European Criminal Law
Volume11
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Keywords

  • comparative law
  • Criminal insanity
  • criminal law
  • forensic psychiatry
  • legislation

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