About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

28 Sing. L. Rev. 2 (2010)

handle is hein.journals/singlrev28 and id is 1 raw text is: Singapore Law Review (2010) 28 Sing L Rev 2-21 THE INTOXICATION DEFENCE: IN A FRENZY OF BAKCHEIA' SEOw Tzi YANG* o thou invisible spirit ofwvine, if thou hast no name to be known by let us call thee devil! ... O God, that men should put an enemy in their mouths to steal away their brains! That we should, with joy, pleasance, revel and applause, transform ourselves into beasts!2 I. INTRODUCTION The intoxication defence in the Penal Code' resembles a rosewood pagoda situated in a tropical climate: sacrosanct in its structure of legal principles but ephemeral and susceptible to the rot of hard cases. One realises. reluctantly, that this rosewood pagoda simply does not belong here. This article seeks to tap on the provision and ascertain the hollowness and deficiencies of its structure. It shall then assess no less than four possible reforms of the intoxication defence, from the extreme conservative end of the spectrum to the extreme liberal end. Lastly, this article shall piece together a refurbished halfway house that may provide a viable solution to this piece of bad architecture. The current provisions for the intoxication defence read as follows: Intoxication when a defence. 85. -(1) Except as provided in this section and in section 86, intoxication shall not constitute a defence to any criminal charge. (2) Intoxication shall be a defence to any criminal charge if by reason thereof the person charged at the time of the act or omission complained of did not know that such act or omission was wrong or did not know what he was doing and - (a) the state of intoxication was caused without his consent by the malicious or negligent act of another person; or (b) the person charged was, by reason of intoxication, insane, temporarily or otherwise, at the time of such act or omission. 1 Bacchus (or Dionysus) was the Greek and Roman god of wine and ecstacy. He often induced an orgiastic frenzy in his followers known as bakcheia. LLB candidate, National University of Singapore, LLM candidate, New York University. I am greatly indebted to Professor Michael Hor for his brilliant Criminal Law seminars that provided the embryo of this article, and his valuable comments on an earlier draft of this work. All remaining errors and omissions are obviously my own. 2 William Shakespeare., Othello (1622), Act 11 Scene III (Cassio). 3 (Cap. 224, 2008 Rev. Ed. Sing.).

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most