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Personality disorder and the law in Scotland: a historical perspective

'Psychopathic disorder' has retained its place in English and Welsh mental health legislation since 1959, but is innominate in equivalent Scottish legislation. This paper describes the evolution of the law relating to personality disorder in Scotland, including consideration of the development of diminished responsibility, the introduction of the moral imbecile and the 'absence' of psychopathic disorder from the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1960 and the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984. It emerges that statute law in Scotland has been very similar to that in England and Wales. However, legal practice in relation to diminished responsibility prior to the abolition of the death penalty excluded psychopathic offenders, and psychiatric practice since the 1970s has tended to reject hospital disposals for offenders with primary personality disorders. A historical understanding of personality disorder and the law in Scotland clarifies current difference between Scotland and England and Wales, and helps in the understanding of proposed future development in this area in Scotland, which, subsequent to devolution, is likely to diverge from England and Wales.