Unfitness to Plead Consultation Responses - Law Commission ...

envisages that there could be an acquittal where the accused had not done
the actus reus of the offence. That is clearly appropriate. But it envisages
that there may be a two stage determination of the lack of a mental
element. It would seek to distinguish those cases in which the accused’s
belief was assessed by the jury as being objectively correct on the
evidence and those where it was based upon a factor flowing from his
mental condition. In other words, was his belief based upon his delusion
or might it have been correct in the circumstances viewed objectively. We
consider that it should be possible for a jury to return a verdict which
reflected which situation appertained i.e. the defendant’s belief was
genuine and not affected by his mental condition or was affected by his
mental condition. In our view, this could be reflected by a finding that
that there are no grounds for an acquittal which are not connected with
his mental disorder or learning disability.
Provisional Proposal 8: The present section4A hearing should be replaced
with a procedure whereby the prosecution is obliged to prove that the
accused did the act or made the omission charged and that there are no
grounds for an acquittal.
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