Cape Verde Legislative Decree 4/2003 of 18 November 2003 - PENAL CODE
VOLUME I - GENERAL PROVISIONS
TITLE II - PUNISHABLE DEEDS
CHAPTER I - DEFINING CRITERIA OF PUNISHMENT
Article 18
(Absence of responsibility by reason of psychological abnormality)
1. No one may be considered responsible who, at the time of committing a deed, was incapable of assessing the unlawfulness of the deed, or of conducting himself accordingly, by reason of a psychological abnormality.
2. The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply in those cases where a person is wholly intoxicated as a result of having consumed alcoholic beverages, narcotics, psychotropic or toxic substances, or other substances producing similar effects.
3. The possibility of being considered responsible shall not be ruled out if the psychological abnormality or the situation described in the preceding paragraph was brought about by the perpetrator with the intention of committing the deed, or if the carrying out of the deed was or ought to have been foreseen by the perpetrator.
1. In addition to other grounds for excluding criminal responsibility provided for in this Statute, a person shall not be criminally responsible if, at the time of that person's conduct:
(a) The person suffers from a mental disease or defect that destroys that person's capacity to appreciate the unlawfulness or nature of his or her conduct, or capacity to control his or her conduct to conform to the requirements of law;
(b) The person is in a state of intoxication that destroys that person's capacity to appreciate the unlawfulness or nature of his or her conduct, or capacity to control his or her conduct to conform to the requirements of law, unless the person has become voluntarily intoxicated under such circumstances that the person knew, or disregarded the risk, that, as a result of the intoxication, he or she was likely to engage in conduct constituting a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;
(c) The person acts reasonably to defend himself or herself or another person or, in the case of war crimes, property which is essential for the survival of the person or another person or property which is essential for accomplishing a military mission, against an imminent and unlawful use of force in a manner proportionate to the degree of danger to the person or the other person or property protected. The fact that the person was involved in a defensive operation conducted by forces shall not in itself constitute a ground for excluding criminal responsibility under this subparagraph;
(d) The conduct which is alleged to constitute a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court has been caused by duress resulting from a threat of imminent death or of continuing or imminent serious bodily harm against that person or another person, and the person acts necessarily and reasonably to avoid this threat, provided that the person does not intend to cause a greater harm than the one sought to be avoided. Such a threat may either be:
(i) Made by other persons; or
(ii) Constituted by other circumstances beyond that person's control.