Lack of Capacity: Reforming the Law on Unfitness to Plead

摘要

This article examines the new tests proposed for effective participation at trial and ability to plead guilty set out in the recently published Law Commission Report.The two new tests aim to replace the current criteria on unfitness to plead developed in M (John) and originating from Pritchard. While the tests are a welcome development, particular focus will be given to the absence of a diagnostic threshold, which detracts from the quality of otherwise scrupulously drafted proposals.