Unfitness to Plead Consultation Responses - Law Commission ...

UNFITNESS TO PLEAD
Response by the Law Reform Committee of the Bar Council
and the Criminal Bar Association of England and Wales
psychiatric test can be “ “defined” and that it would be the standard test for
assessing capacity. In the event that such a test cannot be defined, or is flawed, no
alternative option for reform is advanced by the Commission in the CP. The
publication of the CP was therefore arguably premature. However, even if a
psychiatric test can be developed, we believe that its value is in the information
that it provides, rather than being prescriptive of the determination. Whether a
“defined psychiatric test” comes into o being or not, the CP has usefully put the
Prichard test under the microscope and makes a powe powerful rful case for the use of
special measures, as appropriate, in relation to vulnerable defendants as well as
non-defendant witnesses.
Rudi Fortson QC, Peter Grievess-Smith,
and Valerie Charbit
25 th January 2011
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