In availing myself of the invitation kindly extended to me by the Institute for the Scientific Treatment of Delinquency of speaking to you on “The Treatment of Mental Disorders and Mental Deficiency in Continental Criminal Law “, I have no intention to abuse this privilege by criticizing the corresponding English law or by making suggestions for its improvement. For the latter task I feel myself neither competent nor authorized, as I am only too well aware that every important legal change is dependent upon many considerations which the foreign observer—though possibly conversant with the external facts—can appreciate only inadequately. What I may safely do, however, is to summarize some outstanding features of modern continental law and to add a few personal experiences concerning the legal system under which I worked for nearly a quarter of a century. I intend to deal first with problems of insanity (including temporary insanity caused by drunkenness), secondly with other forms of mental disorders and with mental deficiency.