Automatism has no statutory basis, no Act of Parliament defines it. Different judges have produced differing definitions and precedents. The present law has been subject to much criticism.

Letter Published: 29 October 1874 Automatism of Animals and Men DOUGLAS A. SPALDING Nature 10, 520 (1874) Cite this article ...

PROF. HUXLEY's most interesting address published in NATURE, vol. x. p. 362, seems to me to involve some difficulty, which I take the liberty to state, though well aware that I am stepping on ...

Automatism for the people Following the decision in the highly publicised case involving Peter Buck of REM, Kevin Roberts discusses the implications for the use of automatism as a defence On 20 ...

The defence of automatism is certainly necessary in criminal law where the concept of mens rea is still one of the touchstones of justice. If a driver suffers from a medical episode which renders ...

The case, which the judge called "unusual," highlights the long and controversial legal history surrounding horrific acts of violence and claims of automatism — a term describing unconscious ...

A man in Manchester may have made legal history in the UK after being acquitted of murdering his father because he was sleepwalking at the time. He was found not guilty due to insanity and sent to a ...

In 1999, the top court ruled that there has to be a considerable body of evidence supporting non-insane automatism before a judge can even tell the jury that it might be a factor in their decision.

Crime and Automatism “Savage instincts, barbarous usages, ancient beliefs, will all find themselves confronted with a new order of facts.” ...

Automatism or automatic behaviour was originally described in the Hippocratic corpus in relation to sleepwalking and other nocturnal behaviours.1 Despite its long history, this area of automatism ...

Dundee murder accused withdraws 'automatism' defence 12 November 2012 Ronald Fraser was allegedly stabbed by Callum Tole at a flat in the Lochee area of Dundee ...