Epilepsy and the defence of insanity - Time for change?

Epilepsy, perhaps more than any other condition, has had an impact on the development of the defence of insanity and its relationship to automatism having resulted in two appeals to the House of Lords. This paper, based on research generously commissioned by Epilepsy Action (The British Epilepsy Association), attempts to provide an insight into how the criminal justice process operates when epilepsy results in a successful defence of insanity by discussing 13 such cases. In addition we will critically analyse the development of the insanity defence with particular reference to epilepsy and in doing so make a call for reform.