Making Fitness to Plead Fit for Purpose
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-4409.2012.01.17Keywords:
Fitness, competence, mental health, law, criminal justice, psychiatryAbstract
In the England and Wales criminal justice system, consideration of a defendant’s ability to stand trial is known as ‘fitness to plead’. No accused person may face trial unless they are fit to plead to the charges against them. The fitness to plead criteria date back to the 19th century, and have been virtually unchanged. Developed from case law relating to sensory impairment and intellectual disability, they are now routinely utilised for severe and enduring mental illnesses, predominantly psychotic disorders. The fitness to plead criteria are no longer appropriate to meet modern understanding of complex mental disorders, and are shamefully archaic in comparison to civil capacity legislation. This paper outlines the development of the fitness to plead criteria and process, summarises current criticisms and proposes potential reform in this fundamental area of mental health law.
References
Akinkunmi, A. A. (2002) The MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool – Fitness to Plead: A preliminary evaluation of a research instrument for assessing fitness to plead in England and Wales. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law, 30, 476-482
Allen, Kesavarajah & Moses (1993) A Crim R 376 at para 397
Attorney General’s Reference no. 3 of 1998 [1999] 3 All ER 40, page 48
Aubrey, M. (1987) Evaluations of Competency to Stand Trial: Frequency of Repeated Referrals. Journal of Psychiatry and Law, 15, 425 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/009318538701500305
Aubrey, M. (1988) Characteristics of Competency Referral of Defendants and Nonreferred Criminal Defendants. Journal of Psychiatry and Law, 16, 233 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/009318538801600204
Blackstone’s Commentaries, Lewis Edition; Rees, Welsh and Co., Philadelphia: 1897, at 23-25
Blouet v Bath & Wansdyke Magistrates Court [2009] EWHC 759 (Admin)
Bonnie, R. J. & Grisso, T. (2000) Adjudicative competence and youthful offenders. In T. Grisso & R. G. Schwartz (Eds.), Youth on trial: A developmental perspective on juvenile justice, p 73-103. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Bonnie, R. J. (1992) The competence of criminal defendants: A theoretical reformulation. Behavioural Sciences and the Law, 10, 291-316 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2370100303 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2370100303
Bowden, P. (1995) Criminal Proceedings. In Practical Forensic Psychiatry (ed. D. Chiswick and R. Cope), p106-133. Gaskell: London
(Butler) Committee on Mentally Abnormal Offenders. Home Office and Department of Health and Social Security, 1975
Chiswick, D., McIsaac, M. W. & McClintock, F. H. (1984) Prosecution of the Mentally Disturbed. Aberdeen University Press, p12
Chiswick, D., Shubsachs, A. P. W. & Novosel, S. (1990) Reprosecution of patients found unfit to plead: a report of anomalies in procedure in Scotland. Psychiatric Bulletin, 14, 208-210 http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/pb.14.4.208 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1192/pb.14.4.208
Cooke, G. (1969) The court study unit: Patient characteristics and differences between patients judged competent and incompetent. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 25, 140-143 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/1097-4679(196904)25:2<140::AID-JCLP2270250207>3.0.CO;2-J DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-4679(196904)25:2<140::AID-JCLP2270250207>3.0.CO;2-J
Cowden, V. L. & McKee, G. R. (1995) Competency to stand trial in juvenile delinquency proceedings: Cognitive maturity and the attorney-client relationship. University of Louisville Journal of Family Law, 33, 629-660
Criminal Appeal Reports (1911) vi, p 272
Dooley, C., Baker, P., Devonshire, P., Evers, C., Herbert, C. & Husband, H. (2006) Professional practice board assessment of capacity guidelines group assessment of capacity in adults: Interim guidance for psychologists. The British Psychological Society, April 2006
Drope v Missouri (1975) 420 US 162, 43 L Ed 2d 103, 95 S Ct 896 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246X.1975.tb00630.x
Dusky v United States (1960) 362 US 402, 4 L Ed 2d 824, 80 S Ct 788
European Convention of Human Rights (1950) Council of Europe
Freckleton, I. (1996) Rationality and flexibility in assessment of fitness to stand trial. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 19(1), 39-59 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-2527(95)00026-7
Godinez v Moran 125 L Ed 2d 321, 113 S Ct 2680 (1993)
Gray, N. S., O’Connor, C., Williams, T., Short, J. & MacCulloch, M. (2001) Fitness to plead: Implications from case law arising from the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 12, 52-62 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09585180121865
Grisso, T. (2005) Evaluating juveniles’ adjudicative competence: A guide for clinical practice. Sarasota, FL: Professional Resource Press
Grubin, D. H. (1991) Unfit to plead in England and Wales, 1976-1988: a survey. British Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 540-548 http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjp.158.4.540 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.158.4.540
Hale, M. (1971) The history of the pleas of the Crown (Vols 1 and 2). London: Professional Books.
Hamblin Smith, M. (1916) Unfitness to plead in criminal trials. Journal of Mental Science, 62, 763-774 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.62.259.763
Hansard 186 HC (6th Series) col. 1280, 1 March 1991, per John Patten MP, minister of state at the Home Office
Hart, S. D. & Hare, R. D. (1992) Predicting fitness to stand trial: the relative power of demographic, criminal and clinical variables. Forensic Reports, 5, 53
Hess, J. H. & Thomas, H. E. (1963) Incompetency to stand trial: procedures, results, and problems. American Journal of Psychiatry, 119, 713-720 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.119.8.713
Higson, W. D. (1936) Unfitness to plead. Journal of Mental Science (1935) 81: 822-833 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.81.335.822
Hoge, S. K., Bonnie, R. J., Poythress, N., Monahan, J., Eisenberg, M. & Feucht-Havier, T. (1997) The MacArthur adjudicative competence study; development and validation of a research instrument. Law and Human Behaviour, 21, 141-179 http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1024826312495 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024826312495
Home Office: Mentally Disordered Offenders: Inter-Agency Working. Circular 12/95, London: Home Office 1995
Jackson v Indiana (1972; 406 US 715)
Jacobs, M. S., Ryba, N. L. & Zapf, P. A. (2008) Competence-related abilities and psychiatric symptoms: An analysis of the underlying structure and correlates of the MacCAT-CA and the BPRS [Electronic version]. Law and Human Behaviour, 32(1), 64-77 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10979-007-9086-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-007-9086-8
James, D. V., Duffield, G., Blizzard, R. & Hamilton, L. W. (2001) Fitness to plead. A prospective study of the inter-relationships between expert opinion, legal criteria and specific symptomatology. Psychological Medicine, 31, 139-150 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0033291799002901 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291799002901
Kerrigan, K. (2002) Psychiatric evidence and mandatory disposal: Article 5 compliance? Journal of Mental Health Law, July 2002, 130-138 DOI: https://doi.org/10.19164/ijmhcl.v0i7.352
Larkin, E. P. & Collins, P. J. (1989) Fitness to plead and psychiatric reports. Medicine, Science and the Law, 29, 26-32 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/002580248902900105
Macdonald, D. A., Nussbaum, D. S. & Bagby, R. M. (1991) Reliability, validity and utility of the Fitness Interview Test. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 36(7), 480-484
Macdonald, D. A., Nussbaum, D. S. & Bagby, R. M. (1991) Reliability, validity and utility of the Fitness Interview Test. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 36(7), 480-484 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/070674379103600703
Mackay, R. D. & Kearns, G. (2000) An upturn in fitness to plead? Disability in relation to the trial under the 1991 Act. Criminal Law Review, 532-546
Mackay, R. D. (2007) AAPL Practice Guideline for the Forensic Psychiatric Evaluation of Competence to Stand Trial: An English Legal Perspective. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law, 35, 501-504
Mackay, R. D., Mitchell, B. J. & Howe, L. (2007) A continued upturn in unfitness to plead: More disability in relation to trial under the 1991 Act. Criminal Law Review, 530-545
McGarry, A. L. (1971) The fate of psychotic offenders returned for trial. American Journal of Psychiatry, 127, 1181-1184 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.127.9.1181
Melton, G. B., Petrila, J., Prythress, N. G. & Slobogin, C. (1997) Psychological evaluations for the Courts: A handbook for mental health professionals and lawyers. (2nd ed.) New York: Guilford
Miller RD. Criminal competence, in Principles and Practice of Forensic Psychiatry. Edited by Rosner R. New York: Chapman Hall, 1994, p 174-197
Mossman, D. Noffsinger, S. G., Asp, P., et al. (2007) AAPL Practice Guideline for the Forensic Psychiatric Evaluation of Competence to Stand Trial. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law, 35(Supp), 3-72
Nicholson, R. A. & Kugler, K. E. (1991) Competent and incompetent criminal defendants: A quantitative review of comparative research. Psychiatric Bulletin, 106, 184-203
Plotnick, S., Porter, J. & Bagby, M. (1998) Is there bias in the evaluation of fitness to stand trial? International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 21(3), 291-304 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0160-2527(98)00007-7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-2527(98)00007-7
R (Hasani) v Blackfriars Crown Court [2005] WEHC 3016 (Admin)
R (On the application of P) v Barking Youth Court [2002] EWHC 734 (Admin)
R (Surat Singh) v Stratford Magistrates Court [2007] EWHC 1582 (Admin)
R J Bonnie (1993) The Competence of Criminal Defendants: Beyond Dusky and Drope. University of Miami Law Review, 47(3), 539-540
R v Antoine [1999] 3 WLR p 1210
R v Antoine [2000] 2 All ER 208 (HL); [1999] 3 WLR 1204 (CA)
R v Benyon [1957] 2 QB 111 at 114
R v Berry [1977] 66 Cr. App. R. 156 at 158
R v Borkan [2004] EWCA Crim 1642
R v Carrel [1992] 1 NZLR 760 at 762
R v Davies [1853] CLC 326
R v Douglas [1885] (unreported)
R v Dyson (1831) 7 C. & P. 305, n.
R v Egan [1998] 1 Cr App R 121; [1996] 35 BMLR 103 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0536.1996.tb02317.x
R v Felstead [1914] AC 534
R v Friend [1997] 2 All ER 1012, 1018
R v H and Secretary of State for the Home Department [2003] UKHL1
R v Harris (1836) 61 J.P. 792
R v Heather Grant [2001] EWCA Crim 2611
R v Lincolnshire (Kesteven) Justices ex parte Connor [1983] 1 WLR 335, p338
R v M [2003] EWCA Crim 3452 para 31
R v M, K & H [2001] EWCA Crim 2024
R v Norman [2008] EWCA Crim 1810
R v Omara, Lawtel, 13 February 2004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-004-0675-7
R v Owen (No 2) [1964] NZLR 828 at 831
R v Podola [[1960] 1 QB 325, [1959] 3 All ER 418
R v Presser [1958] VR 45 at 48
R v Pritchard (1836) 7 C. & P. 303
R v Rivett (1950) 34 Cr App R 87, para 94 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.3730340206
R v Roberts [1954] 2 QB
R v Robertson [1968] 3 All ER 557, [1968] 52 Crim. App. 690 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(68)92932-2
R v Steel (1787) 2 Leach 507
R v Taylor [1992] 11 OR (3d) 323
R v Thomas Jones (1773) 1 Leach 102
R v Wheeler [1852] (unreported)
Report of the Royal Commission on Capital Punishment, Hansard, 2 July 1953 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.2.4839.775
Roesch, R. & Golding, S. L. (1980) Competency to stand trial. Urbana: University of Illinois Press
Roesch, R., Eaves, D., Sollner, R., Normandin, M. & Glackman, W. (1981) Evaluating Fitness to Stand Trial: A Comparative Analysis of Fit and Unfit Defendants. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 4, 145-157 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0160-2527(81)90025-X DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-2527(81)90025-X
Rogers, R., Gillis, J. R., McMain, S. & Dickens, S. E. (1988) Fitness evaluations: A retrospective study of clinical, criminal and sociodemographic characteristics. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 20, 192-200 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0079925 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/h0079925
Rogers, T. P., Blackwood, N. J., Farnham, F., Pickup, G. J. & Watts, M. J. (2008) Fitness to plead and competence to stand trial: a systematic review of the constructs and their application. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 19(4), 576-596 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14789940801947909 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14789940801947909
Rosenfeld, B. & Ritchie, K. (1998) Competence to stand trial: Clinician reliability and the role of offence severity. Journal of Forensic Science, 43, 151-157 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1520/JFS16102J
Royal Commission on Capital Punishment (1953) 1949-1953: Report. London: HMSO
Scottish Law Commission (2004) Report on Insanity and Diminished Responsibility. Edinburgh, Stationery Office, Annex A: draft Criminal Responsibility and Unfitness for Trial (Scotland) Bill, clause 4
Singleton, N., Meltzer, H. & Gatward, R. (1998) Psychiatric morbidity among prisoners in England and Wales. London: Stationery Office DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/e591872010-001
Steadman, H. J. (1979) Beating a rap? Defendants found incompetent to stand trial. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Steadman, H. J., Monahan, J. & Hartson, E. (1982) Mentally disordered offenders: a national survey of patients and facilities. Law and Human Behaviour, 6, 31-38 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01049311 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01049311
Vassall-Adams, G. & Scott-Moncrieff, L. (2006) Capacity and fitness to plead: The yawning gap. Counsel, 14-16
Viljoen, J. L., Roesch, R. & Zapf, P. A. (2002) An examination of the relationship between competency to stand trial, competency to waive interrogation rights, and psychopathology. Law and Human Behaviour, 26, 481-506 http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1020299804821 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020299804821
Walker, N. (1968) Crime and insanity in England, Vol. 1: The historical perspective. Edinburgh University Press, p 15
Whittemore, K. E., Ogloff, J. R. & Roesch, R. (1997) An investigation of competency to participate in legal proceedings in Canada. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 42, 869-875 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/070674379704200811
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2013 International Journal of Criminology and Sociology
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Policy for Journals/Articles with Open Access
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post links to their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work
Policy for Journals / Manuscript with Paid Access
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Publisher retain copyright .
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post links to their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work .
