It is the intent of this essay to address some of the myths that are related to verdicts of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder [NCRMD]. In doing so, this paper will focus on the following myths: those found NCRMD are …show more content…
It has been a long-held principle of the Canadian criminal justice system that you cannot convict or punish an individual who did not have criminal intent. Criminal intent, as expressed in the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling in R. v. Oommen (1994), is established when it is determined that the accused “possess the intellectual ability to know right from wrong in an abstract sense…[and]…he or she…also posses the ability to apply that knowledge in a rational way to the alleged criminal