In Majewski the House of Lords handed down a decision which was intended to determine, authoritatively, the position of the defendant who pleads not guilty to a criminal offence on the basis that he was so intoxicated that he did not know what he was doing. Their Lordships unanimously accepted the existence of a rule of law to the effect that in crimes of “basic intent,” such as the assaults with which Majewski was charged, intoxication, where it was self-induced, could provide no defence; only where the crime involved required a “specific intent” could self-induced intoxication ground a plea of not guilty based on a lack of the necessary mens rea.