Fitness to plead

In the law of England and Wales, fitness to plead is the capacity of a defendant in criminal proceedings to comprehend the course of those proceedings. Its US equivalent is competence to stand.

Test

If an issue fitness to plead is raised, a judge will only find a person to be unfit to plead if he is unable to either:
* to comprehend the course of proceedings on the trial, so as to make a proper defence;
* to know that he might challenge any jurors to whom he may object;
* to comprehend the evidence; or
* to give proper instructions to his legal representatives. ["Prichard" (1836) 7 C & P 303.]

If the issue is raised by the prosecution, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is unfit to plead. ["Robertson" [1968] 1 WLR 1767.] If the issue is raised by the defence, it need only be proved on the balance of probabilities. ["Podola" [1960] 1 QB 325.]

Procedure

The question of unfitness to plead is determined by a judge. [Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964, UKStatute|1233643|s. 4 (as amended by the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, UKStatute|975329|s. 22).] The decision should normally be made as soon as it arises,Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964, UKStatute|1233643|s. 4.] 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.

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, UKStatute|1233644|s. 4A.] This process avoids the detention of innocent persons in hospital merely because they are mentally unfit. [cite book |editor=Hooper, Ormerod, Murphy and others |title=Blackstone's Criminal Practice |edition=2008 |publisher=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-922814-0 |pages=1565] 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. [cite BAILII
country=uk
litigants=R v. Antoine
court=UKHL
division=
year=2000
num=20
para=
date=2000-03-30]

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;
* make a supervision and treatment order within the meaning of Schedule 2 to the Mental Health Act of 1991; or
* make an order for his absolute discharge.Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964, UKStatute|1233645|s. 5.]

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. [ [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=64003 CJO - Abstract - Fitness to plead. A prospective study of the inter-relationships between expert opinion, legal criteria and specific symptomatology ] ]

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

ee also

*English law