Unfitness to Plead Consultation Responses - Law Commission ...

Social Services was understandably unwilling to allow his family to claim benefit.
His recovery in hospital was swift but he lapsed into an anxiety state with panic
and some secondary depression as a presumed result of trying to come to terms
with the consequences… Three psychiatrists including one for the prosecution
service, concurred with the diagnosis of hypomania or mania and accepted the
amnesia as genuine. The prosecution decided to offer no evidence and the
judge, after consulting with both counsel in Chambers and reading the reports,
decided not to put the issue to a jury. Describing in open court “an extremely
serious series of events under ordinary circumstance calling for extreme
punishments”, he agreed that offering no evidence was the right decision by the
Crown. He called attention to the special circumstances of the case and the
background of the defendant. Severe warnings were given if Mr X defaulted from
his treatment and relapsed and the Crown Psychiatrist’s report was to be sent to
DVLA. Those advising Mr X were both astonished and happy.”
The above case studies serve to highlight the general position, that, but for the judicial
presence in the case study of Mr X, the present legal test would have failed to serve the
interests of justice, as it failed in the case of Mr Pearson and no doubt many countless
other vulnerable defendants who have passed through our criminal legal system who do
not possess the requisite understanding of their unfitness in respect of their capacity and
decision making processes. It is KC’s understanding that the concern in relation to
unfitness to plead is based around the current legal test which is separated into two
stages. The first stage, addresses the question of, is the accused “under a disability” so
that it would be inappropriate for him or her to stand trial? Currently the test construes
disability as physical impairment or mental disorder, and gives the impression of
including all forms of mental disorders. This is not the correct position when looking at
the practical application. The criteria within the Pritchard test, the CP states and we
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