Criminal Responsibility of Minors and the Insane: A Perspective from Islamic Sharia and Libyan Law

Islamic Sharia and Libyan Law

Abstract

In Islamic law, crime is defined as disobeying what God has commanded by law. Jurists have defined it as an external activity undertaken by a person, through action or omission, provided that the law imposes a punishment or a preventive measure for it.

The crime may occur from a person with full awareness and will, of mature age, surrounded by circumstances that led to it. However, this crime may also occur from a person who lacks awareness, such as an insane person, or one suffering from a complete mental illness. It may also occur from a boy, and Islamic law and statutory law have placed special provisions on these people. In terms of determining criminal responsibility and the prescribed penalty; The Libyan legislator, like some other legislations regarding the punishment for premeditated murder, has tended towards applying the provisions of Sharia in this regard.

The criminal responsibility of the juvenile and the insane in premeditated murder is considered one of the most important legal topics, as it comes within the headings of criminal responsibility in general, and this topic also raises many questions from some about the extent of responsibility and aspects of its application.