In the

law of England and Wales English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. The judiciary is independent, and legal principles like fairness, equality be ...

, 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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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 p ...

. 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 standard of balance of probabilities (US English: preponderance of t ...

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 has 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 Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal charging document in the presence of the defendant, to inform them of the criminal charges against them. In response to arraignment, in some jurisdictions, the accused is expected to enter a plea; i ...

, 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 ...

. Under the earlier Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964, determination of unfitness to plead led to an assumption that the accused had committed the act, without need for the prosecution to submit evidence, followed by automatic admission to hospital. In consequence fitness to plead was very rarely raised by defendants. Since the 1991 Criminal Procedure (Insanity and Unfitness to Plead) Act, if the judge determines that the defendant is unfit to plead, a "

trial of the facts Under the law of England and Wales regarding insanity Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors caused by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can manifest as violations of societal norms, including a perso ...

" is held in which evidence is heard and the jury asked to determine whether the defendant did the act or made the omission charged against them 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 In criminal law, (; Law Latin for "guilty mind") is the mental state of a defendant who is accused of committing a crime. In common law jurisdictions, most crimes require proof both of ''mens rea'' and '' actus reus'' ("guilty act") before th ...

. 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 me ...

; * make a supervision and treatment order within the meaning of Schedule 2 to the

Criminal Procedure (Insanity and Unfitness to Plead) Act 1991 Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail or ...

; or * make an order for his absolute discharge.Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964, .

Criticism

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 New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, 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

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Test

Procedure

Criticism

References

See also