The Impact of Criminal Irresponsibility on Legal Proceedings A Comparative Study

Abstract

This study aims to highlight the legislative approach and general framework adopted by the Jordanian criminal legislator in its procedural handling of defendants who lack criminal responsibility and to assess the legislator's ability to formulate procedural legal provisions that ensure proper treatment of such individuals. This approach must align, on the one hand, with the underlying purpose of the principle of criminal responsibility and, on the other hand, with the demands of justice pursued by criminal legislation. To achieve the intended objective, the study adopted descriptive, analytical, and comparative methodologies. It examined the legal provisions governing this issue in Jordanian criminal legislation and compared them with the corresponding provisions in Algerian criminal legislation. The study ultimately reached several conclusions, the most significant of which is that, although the Jordanian criminal legislator included a specific procedural provision in Article 233 of the Code of Criminal Procedure addressing the issue of insanity, it failed to grant the public prosecutor or attorney general the authority to halt the prosecution of a defendant suffering from such a condition. This shortcoming may be considered a legislative deficiency in this respect. Moreover, the legislator, in drafting paragraph five of the same article, demonstrated inconsistency with its other paragraphs by requiring the attendance of an insane defendant at trial sessions rather than placing them in a psychiatric hospital. The researcher presented several recommendations to the criminal legislator, including the addition of a specific paragraph within Article 233 of the Code of Criminal Procedure that would enable the public prosecutor or attorney general—once the case falls within their jurisdiction—to issue a decision preventing the prosecution of a defendant if medical assessment confirms the presence of a psychological or mental illness. The study also recommends including a dedicated paragraph in the Juvenile Law obligating both the public prosecutor and the court to prohibit the attendance of a juvenile defendant at investigation and trial proceedings without legal counsel, regardless of the type of offense. The presence of a defense lawyer should be mandatory at all stages of the proceedings, in line with the approach adopted by the Algerian legislator in the Child Protection Law.