Sect 81 and 84 of the Penal Code

Section 81 -  Necessity

Elements:
1) With the knowledge the offence is likely to cause harm
2) It is done without any criminal intention to cause harm
3) It is done in good faith for the purpose of preventing or avoiding other harm to person or property
4) There was a situation of necessity in that there was a threatened harm to person or property
5) It was so Imminent (about to happen any second) as to justify the accused's action

William Glanville in his book Criminal Law (2nd edition 1982) stated that " Law has too be broken to achieve a greater good "

Under this section, it is permissible to cause harm in order to avoid other greater harm as long as the elements above are satisfied.

" One is permitted to commit a lesser evil in order to prevent a greater evil.."

Case: PP V Ali Bin Umar, muhammad sarwar v state pcd, R v Dudley and stephens, United States v Holmes

Section 84 - Unsoundness of mind

Elements:

1) The accused must suffer unsoundness of mind at the time committing the offence.
2) By reason of Unsoundness of Mind - Sect. 84 provides a wider definition of unsoundness of mind compared to McNaghten's, but the test of right or wrong is used by the court in malaysia.
3) Incapable of knowing the nature of the act
4) even if the accused is capable of knowing the nature of the act, he might still be protected under this section if he is incapable of knowing what he was doing is either wrong or contrary to  law.

Case: PP v Muhammad Suhaimi Abdul Aziz, Jusoh v PP

Type of unsoundness of mind covered by section 84:-
1) delusion - mistaken belief
2) hallucination
3) Dementia - Lost of brain function which affect memory, thinking, language and behaviour
4) psychotic - fake believe of what is what, seeing or hearing things..... etc
5) Insane automatism cause by internal factors
6) mental deficiency - idiocy, imbecility and feeble-mindedness

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Till Next Time.. da~~~~