[Common paths of psychiatry and forensic medicine--history and evolution of insanity defense concept from antiquity to modern times].

Forensic psychiatry and psychology were in their beginnings inseparably associated with the forensic medicine, constituting one of its related branches of knowledge. Progress and development of these disciplines, education and the practical application for the purposes of the law were a contribution of a several generations of forensic pathologists in the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the major issues of common interest was opinionating on the sanity of offenders. However, the problem of criminal responsibility of the mentally ill perpetrators dates back to much earlier times and has its roots in the distant beginnings of human civilization. In this paper, the history and evolution of the insanity concept (as a circumstance excluding the guilt of the offender) were presented, from the oldest theories to ideas underlying modern codifications.