Mentally Disordered Offenders: Trials
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps are being taken to protect the public from a person if they are found unfit to stand trial but was found to have done the act in a trial of the facts.
Answered by Sarah Sackman
In any case, including those involving alleged sexual offences, where a defendant is found unfit to plead, the ordinary criminal trial does not proceed in the usual way. Instead, the jury determines whether the defendant did the act or made the omission charged.
Where it is found the defendant did the act, the court may impose one of the statutory protective disposals available under the Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964: a hospital order, with or without a restriction order under the Mental Health At 1983, a supervision order, or an absolute discharge.
This framework is designed to protect the public while recognising the rights of a vulnerable defendant and the interests of those affected by the alleged offence.
The appropriate disposal is a matter for the independent judiciary, informed by the facts of the case and relevant expert evidence.
The Ministry of Justice does not hold specific data on trials which do not go ahead because the defendant was found unfit to stand trial. We do, however, publish generalised data on trial effectiveness in the criminal courts.
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