In the

law of England and Wales English law is the common law list of national legal systems, legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly English criminal law, criminal law and Civil law (common law), civil law, each branch having its own Courts of England and Wales, ...

, fitness to plead is the capacity of a defendant in criminal proceedings to comprehend the course of those proceedings. The concept of fitness to plead also applies in Scots and Irish law."During the period 1946 to 1962 ... 34 were found insane and unfit to plead" Its

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

equivalent is competence to stand trial.

Test

If the issue of fitness to plead is raised, a judge is able to find a person unfit to plead. This is usually done based on information following a

psychiatric evaluation Psychological evaluation is a method to assess an individual's behavior, personality, cognitive abilities, and several other domains. A common reason for a psychological evaluation is to identify psychological factors that may be inhibiting a pers ...

. In England and Wales the legal test of fitness to plead is based on the ruling of Alderson B. in '' R v Pritchard''. The accused will be unfit to plead if they are unable: * to comprehend the course of proceedings on the trial, so as to make a proper defence; or * to know that they might challenge any jurors to whom they may object; or * to comprehend the evidence; or * to give proper instructions to their legal representatives. If the issue is raised by the prosecution, the prosecution must prove

beyond reasonable doubt Beyond a reasonable doubt is a legal standard of proof required to validate a criminal conviction in most adversarial legal systems. It is a higher standard of proof than the balance of probabilities standard commonly used in civil cases, bec ...

that the defendant is unfit to plead. If the issue is raised by the defence, it need only be proved on the

balance of probabilities In a legal dispute, one party has the burden of proof to show that they are correct, while the other party had no such burden and is presumed to be correct. The burden of proof requires a party to produce evidence to establish the truth of facts ...

. In Scotland the test is based on '' HMA v Wilson'', and has two elements: * to be able to instruct counsel and * to understand and follow proceedings.

Procedure

The question of unfitness to plead is determined by a judge. The decision should normally be made as soon as it arises,Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964, . which would ordinarily be before arraignment, but the court may postpone consideration of unfitness until any time before the opening of the defence case. This power might be used to allow the defence to challenge the prosecution case on the basis that there is

no case to answer No case for the defendant to answer (sometimes shortened to no case to answer) is a term in the criminal law of some Commonwealth states, whereby a defendant seeks acquittal without having to present a defence, because of the insufficiency of the ...

. If the judge determines that the defendant is unfit to plead, evidence will be heard and the jury will be asked to determine whether he did the act or made the omission charged against him as the offence.Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964, . This process avoids the detention of innocent persons in hospital merely because they are mentally unfit. It has been held that the reference to the "act or omission" means that the jury should not normally consider whether the defendant had the requisite mens rea. If the jury find that the defendant is unfit to plead, the judge may: * make a guardianship order within the meaning of the

Mental Health Act 1983 The Mental Health Act 1983 (c.20) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It covers the reception, care and treatment of mentally disordered people, the management of their property and other related matters, forming part of the men ...

; * make a supervision and treatment order within the meaning of Schedule 2 to the Criminal Procedure (Insanity and Unfitness to Plead) Act 1991; or * make an order for his absolute discharge.Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964, .

Criticism

There is a dearth of research into fitness to plead in the UK, with no prospective studies and no studies involving the comparison of fit and unfit subjects. In particular, there have been no investigations into the meaning of ‘unfit to plead’ in terms of psychiatric symptomatology, or as to the relative importance of each legal fitness criterion in psychiatrists' conclusions as to fitness. An appraisal of the use of the legal test for fitness to plead in England found that 40% of psychiatric court reports did not mention fitness to plead at all, and that only a third made a statement about fitness to plead that was supported by reference to the legal criteria. Research on the application of the legal test in Scotland shows that only 40% of psychiatric court reports made reference to the full legal criteria for fitness to plead.Brewster, E., Willox, EG., Haut F. (2008). Assessing fitness to plead in Scotland's learning disabled. The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology, 19:4,597-602 Other jurisdictions address issues of a defendant's ability to meaningfully participate in the proceedings in a variety of ways. For example, in New York, if a defendant's capacity to understand the proceedings and participate in his or her defense is in question, the court will order that the defendant be examined by two independent medical professionals and conduct a hearing to consider the medical evidence, a procedure known as a "730 examination" as it is governed by Section 730 of the New York Criminal Procedure Law. Analogous procedures exist in other jurisdictions.

References

{{reflist, 2

Test

Procedure

Criticism

References

See also