Mackintosh JF v Lord Advocate, 1935 SC 406, CSIH
Citation: Mackintosh JF v Lord Advocate, 1935 SC 406, CSIH
Rule of thumb 1: If a person is made can they make a will or enter a contract? No, any will created or contract entered by a mad person is invalid.
Rule of thumb 2: In legal arguments, are you restricted to only short & in-point arguments? No, you are entitled to rely on a wide range of legal sources if you so wish.
Judgment:
The Court has emphasised that it is a point of ethical Court practice that Judges are provided with the leading Institutional Books and leading cases on the legalities of any case before them. Where this is not done then they have a right to be discontented, ‘I... repeat a remark ... that I cannot understand why the light ... our own law sheds on ... question ... should be ... hidden under a bushel...’ Lord President Clyde at 409, This is a famous dictum to summarise succession law – if the person is mad then the will as a whole is invalid and if any terms of the will are mad then the mad terms are not valid either, ‘Just as a mad person cannot make any will, so a sane person cannot make a mad will’, Lord President Clyde at 411
Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.