Automatism (law)

Okay, imagine you are playing a game where you close your eyes and let your arms swing freely. Your arms move without you thinking about it or controlling them. This is kind of like what automatism means in law.

Automatism is when a person's body, thoughts, or actions are controlled by something other than their conscious mind. For example, if someone has a medical condition that makes them blackout or have seizures, and during that time they harm someone unintentionally, that might be considered automatism.

When someone is experiencing automatism, they are not thinking or making decisions consciously. This means they cannot be held responsible for what they do during that time, as they did not have control over their actions.

However, for a person to use the defence of automatism, they must be able to prove that the automatism was not caused by something they chose to do, such as taking drugs or alcohol that affected their behaviour.

Overall, automatism is a legal defence that can be used in certain cases when someone's actions were not within their control due to reasons such as a medical condition or some other involuntary cause.