(1)Except as provided in this section and in section 86, intoxication shall not constitute a defence to any criminal charge.
Section history
Section 85 — Intoxication when a defence
As in force on 10 February 2020.
Timeline 4 versions
- 30 March 1987 Enacted
- 1 January 2020 Act 15 of 2019
- 10 February 2020 You are here
- 1 March 2022 Act 23 of 2021
- 17 August 2026 Latest
(2)Intoxication is a defence to any criminal charge if by reason of the intoxication the person charged, at the time of the act or omission complained of —
(a)did not know what he was doing; or
(b)did not know that such act or omission was wrong (whether wrong by the ordinary standards of reasonable and honest persons or wrong as contrary to law),
and the state of intoxication was caused without the knowledge or against the will of the person charged with the offence.
(3)Intoxication is a defence to any criminal charge if by reason of the intoxication the person charged was of unsound mind as determined in accordance with section 84.