Unfitness to Plead Consultation Responses - Law Commission ...

Question 7:
Should an accused who is found to be unfit to plead (or to lack decision making
capacity) be subject to the section 4A hearing in the same proceedings as codefendants
who are being tried?
This question refers to paragraph 7.44:
Paragraph 7.44
However, on the basis of our reasoning in Part 6 for the reform of the section 4A
hearing, and on the basis of the fact that we set great store by the appointment of a
person to represent the accused interests in a section 4A hearing. We do not believe
that under our proposed scheme, the problems that we have identified with B and
others would persist. Therefore, we do not think that we need to make any proposal
in relation to the need for separate trials of the fit and the unfit co-accused. Given
some of the concerns with the decision raised in the above paragraphs however, we
invite consultees’ views on this point.
Response
Yes. There are no obvious reasons why this would be problematic. However this is
felt to be primarily a legal question beyond our expertise as psychiatrists.
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