Brennan v HM Advocate 1977 JC 38 was a Scots criminal appeal

Appeal

An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....

 case decided in the High Court of Justiciary

High Court of Justiciary

The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court of Scotland.The High Court is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal. As a court of first instance, the High Court sits mainly in Parliament House, or in the former Sheriff Court building, in Edinburgh, but also sits from time...

 in its capacity as the Court of Criminal Appeal. The case set the precedent that voluntary intoxication, whether by drink

Alcoholic beverage

An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...

 or drugs

Drug

A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.In pharmacology, a...

, cannot be used to establish defences

Defense (legal)

In civil proceedings and criminal prosecutions under the common law, a defendant may raise a defense in an attempt to avoid criminal or civil liability...

 of automatism

Automatism

Automatism may refer to:*Automatic behavior, spontaneous verbal or motor behavior; an act performed unconsciously. Defendants have been found not guilty due to an automatism defense ....

 or insanity

Insanity defence

In criminal trials, the insanity defense is where the defendant claims that he or she was not responsible for his or her actions due to mental health problems . The exemption of the insane from full criminal punishment dates back to at least the Code of Hammurabi. There are different views of the...

.

Brennan had been convicted of murdering his father during a state of intoxication. This was held not to qualify as automatism as the appelant had entered this state voluntarily. The Court based this reasoning on a number of passages from the work of Baron Hume

David Hume (jurist)

David Hume was a Scottish jurist, whose work on Scots criminal law and Scots private law has had a deep and continuing influence. He is referred to as Baron David Hume to distinguish him from his uncle, David Hume the philosopher....

, one of the institutional writers.

It was also held insufficient to meet the requirements of the special defence of insanity

Insanity defence

In criminal trials, the insanity defense is where the defendant claims that he or she was not responsible for his or her actions due to mental health problems . The exemption of the insane from full criminal punishment dates back to at least the Code of Hammurabi. There are different views of the...

. Lord Justice General

Lord President of the Court of Session

The Lord President of the Court of Session is head of the judiciary in Scotland, and presiding judge of the College of Justice and Court of Session, as well as being Lord Justice General of Scotland and head of the High Court of Justiciary, the offices having been combined in 1836...

 Lord Emslie

George Emslie, Baron Emslie

George Carlyle Emslie, Baron Emslie. PC, MBE , was a Scottish judge.Educated at the High School of Glasgow and the University of Glasgow, he was commissioned in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and served in World War II in North Africa, Italy, Greece and Austria, rising to the rank of Brigade...

stated:

"In the law of Scotland a person who voluntarily and deliberately consumes known intoxicants, including drink or drugs, of whatever quantity, for their intoxicating effects, whether these effects are fully foreseen or not, cannot rely on the resulting intoxication as the foundation of a special defence of insanity at the time nor, indeed, can he plead diminished responsibility."

The defendant's appeal against conviction for murder was refused.