R v Bourke
In Rex v Bourke, an important case in South African criminal law, the Transvaal Provincial Division (TPD) held that, under Roman-Dutch law, drunkenness is, as a general rule, no defence to a crime, although it may be a reason for mitigation of punishment. If the drunkenness is not voluntary—that is, if not caused by an act of the accused—and results in rendering the accused unconscious of what he was doing, he would not be responsible in law for an act done while in such a state. If constant drunkenness has induced a state of mental disease rendering the accused unconscious of his act at the time, he is not responsible and can be declared insane. Where a special intention is necessary to constitute a particular offence, drunkenness might reduce the crime from a more serious to a less serio
primaryTopic
R v Bourke
In Rex v Bourke, an important case in South African criminal law, the Transvaal Provincial Division (TPD) held that, under Roman-Dutch law, drunkenness is, as a general rule, no defence to a crime, although it may be a reason for mitigation of punishment. If the drunkenness is not voluntary—that is, if not caused by an act of the accused—and results in rendering the accused unconscious of what he was doing, he would not be responsible in law for an act done while in such a state. If constant drunkenness has induced a state of mental disease rendering the accused unconscious of his act at the time, he is not responsible and can be declared insane. Where a special intention is necessary to constitute a particular offence, drunkenness might reduce the crime from a more serious to a less serio
has abstract
In Rex v Bourke, an important ...... serious to a less serious one.
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Wikipage page ID
39,434,407
Wikipage revision ID
637,242,781
citations
date decided
1916-05-11
decision by
full name
italic title
judges
Wessels, Curlewis and Gregorowski JJ
keywords
Criminal law, Crime, Drunkenness, Excuse, Mitigation of sentence.
name
number of judges
subject
comment
In Rex v Bourke, an important ...... a more serious to a less serio
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label
R v Bourke
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