Unfitness to Plead Consultation Responses - Law Commission ...

Both these statements understand that there is the need for legal protection where the
accused has a mental disorder or disability and where this will impact on his or her ability
to stand trial. The statements cited, come nearly some two hundred years apart, which
when analysing the legal history of unfitness to plead is unsurprising given the
begrudging pace at which any reform has taken place. Unfortunately unfitness to plead,
is also indicative of the slow pace of understanding the needs of those who have mental
disorders and disabilities. With the last major overhaul of the law taking place in 1964
and then a subsequent revision in 1991 and 2004 is further evidence that even in the
relatively modern context the use of modern psychiatry has not been fully explored with
respect to its role within the legal process of unfitness to plead.
The Law Society Gazette reporting 1990, evidences a case study that serves to highlight
two key points – the double vulnerability of the client group this area of law seeks to
protect and the starkly low figure of those declared unfit in an eight year period, in
comparison to the national figures in respect of diagnosed mental health disorders or
disabilities for the same period 7 :
“Although the case is four years old, the experience of Glen Pearson (see [1989],
19 April, 19) illustrates two sides of a rumbling debate over the issue of fitness to
plead. Mr Pearson, a deaf mute of limited intelligence, was one of only 295
people who were declared unfit to plead between 1976 and 1988. Accused of
house burglary, he was remanded in custody until he was found a place in
hospital. His crime: the attempted theft of a £5 note and two light bulbs. In all Mr
6 Above p 3 para 1.9.
7 “Multi-disciplinary pressure to amend fitness to plead rules” ,[1990] Gazette, 20th June.
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