Fitness in the United Kingdom and the United States
Author | Richard D. Schneider; Hy Bloom |
Pages | 185-194 |
185
cHapter 9
Fitness in the United Kingdom and
the United States
A. THE UNITED KINGDOM
1) Fitness to Plead
What is referred to as “tness to stand trial” in Canada or “competency
to stand trial” in the United States is, in England and Wales, known as
“tness to plead.” The current test has evolved from the common law
and is based principally on the case ofR v Pritchard, where the judge
directed the jury that tness to plead depended on:
whether [the defendant] is of sucient intellect to comprehend the
course of proceedings on the trial, so as to make a proper defense — to
know that he might challenge [any jurors] to whom he may object — and
to comprehend the details of the evidence . . . . If you think that there is
no certain mode of communicating the details of the trial to the pris-
oner, so that he can clearly understand them, and be able properly to
make his defence to the charge, you ought to nd that he is not of sane
mind. It is not enough that he may have a general capacity of com-
municating on ordinary matters.1
The test is an intellectual one that assesses the accused’s level of
comprehension and communication as well as their ability to instruct
counsel. In R v Berry,the court held that a high degree of (mental)
abnormality did not mean that the accused was incapable of following
a trial, giving evidence, instructing counsel, and so on.2
2 R v Berry (1876), 1 QB 447.
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