Words / N / Law

non compos mentis

phrase/ˌnɒn ˌkɒmpəs ˈmɛntɪs/

C2CEFR level
88/100Rarity: very rare
TechnicalRegister

Not of sound mind, and therefore not legally responsible.

The court found him non compos mentis at the time of the killing and ordered hospital treatment.

Topic: Criminal law in Legal English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More law words: Criminal law