Unfitness to Plead Consultation Responses - Law Commission ...

Re 1.34 Provisional Proposal 5
The availability and scope of special measures and reasonable adjustments must be
properly resourced to meet the need. The accused must receive appropriate support
to stand trial and fully participate in proceedings. The assistance of special
measures and reasonable adjustments must be made an entitlement to the accused
in law. The application of the principles of the Disability Discrimination Act would be
a good starting point.
Re 1.34 Provisional Proposal 6
The use of expert independent witnesses is supported but there is an attendant risk
of different witnesses having conflicting views in this difficult area. Some background
for legal professionals would be very useful.
Re 1.34 Provisional Proposal 7
A defined psychiatric test should be available as one part of an assessment process
in assessing decision-making capacity.
Re 3.4.2
It is agreed that the presence of a learning disability should not mean an individual is
unfit to plead. The test should be ‘can the defendant understand what is going on?’.
They must receive specialist support at all stages – ie appropriate adults In police
stations and support in court. In addition a defendant’s legal advisors should also
have basic skills around communicating effectively with people with a learning
disability.
Re 4.4 and 4.10
Defendants with a learning disability should always be considered vulnerable and the
Criminal Justice System should respond accordingly – particularly in the spirit of
Disability Discrimination legislation which requires that strenuous efforts are made to
ensure that a person with a disability is not disadvantaged. This appears particularly
relevant for an individual with a learning disability trying to understand the
complexities of a journey through the Criminal Justice System.
G:\Criminal\Fitness to Plead and insanity\FTP\Consultation responses\NGOs\National Steering Group for Offenders
with LDs\T; National Steering Group with Responsibility for Health Policy on Offenders with Learning Disability.doc