Canadian Criminal Law/Defences/Automatism

General Principles
The defence of "non-insane automatism" is a defence available at common law.

Automatism is the "involuntary behaviour, the state of a person who, though capable of action is not conscious of what he is doing. It means an unconscious involuntary act where the mind does not go with what is being done." It is a state of consciousness where the persons is capable of action, but has not voluntary control over the action.

The burden is on the accused to prove involuntariness on a balance of probabilities.