The word count is: 4000 words (+/- 10%)
– The essay questions are as follows:
‘Q[a] A single father, experiencing a severe depressive episode, lives with his 11-month-old baby. She has been crying all day and he has been unable to console her. Believing her to be better off dead than alive in a world which, he believes, is full of misery, he strangles her. He is charged with murder.
Assess which mental disorder defences may be available to him. Do you think the law in this area is fair? (60%)
Q[b] What are the key differences between the regimes enacted by the Mental Health Act 1983, as amended, and the Mental Capacity Act 2005? Do you think these differences are justified? (40%)’
Question a is largely about diminished responsibility. The law is not fair because if the mother would have killed the child, she could have the defence of infanticide open to her. Disposal would also be different.
Question b is asking to discuss what issues each Act was designed to tackle but primarily what the difference are between the two, and do these differences make sense or do they compound matters. A reference to the Cheshire West judgement might be required.
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