A Brief History of the Fitness Rules

• Author: Richard D. Schneider; Hy Bloom
• Pages: 3-12

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 1

A Brief History of the Fitness Rules

The requirement that an accused be “t to stand trial” stems from the

ancient notion that an accused must be present to respond to accus-

ations of the state. That basic requirement developed into a more

rened view that the accused must be present not only physically but

mentally as well. In Canada, rules originally developed at common law

were codied in 1992 and are contained in section 2 of the Criminal

Code of Canada1as follows:

unt to stand trial means unable on account of mental disorder to conduct

a defence at any stage of the proceedings before a verdict is rendered or

to instruct counsel to do so, and, in particular, unable on account of

mental disorder to

(a) understand the nature or object of the proceedings,

(b) understand the possible consequences of the proceedings, or

(c) communicate with counsel

The procedures for dealing with the issue of untness to stand trial, and

with mental disorder in general, are set out in Part XX.1 of the Criminal

Code. Within the Criminal Code, Part XX.1 can be seen as a “mini Code”

that deals exclusively with the mentally disordered accused.

1 RSC 1985, c C-46 [Code].