Reforming fitness to plead and stand trial legislation in England and Wales

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-15
Author(s):  
Nuwan Galappathie ◽  
Angela Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Case Law ◽  
Mental Capacity ◽  
Learning Objectives ◽  
List Type ◽  
Consultation Process ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Extensive Consultation ◽  
The Law ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Law Commission

SUMMARYThe legal decision on whether a defendant can fairly take part in a criminal trial in England and Wales is currently based on the leading case of R v Pritchard (1836), which despite subsequent case law updates does not embrace the concept of mental capacity or effectively identify defendants who are unable to meaningfully participate. Further to an extensive consultation process, the Law Commission published recommendations for reform in 2016, with a proposed new test of capacity to participate effectively in a trial and detailed suggestions for statutory reform of court procedures for managing defendants found unable to participate. Here we review the proposals and consider practical implications and suggestions regarding their implementation.LEARNING OBJECTIVESAfter reading this article you will be able to: •appreciate the current problems with the law on fitness to plead in England and Wales•understand the proposed test of capacity to participate effectively in a trial•understand the proposed changes to the procedures available when a defendant is found unable to participate.

Mental capacity and deprivation of liberty: the Law Commission’s consultation paper

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 331-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Spencer-Lane
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Consultation Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Opportunity To Respond ◽  
Future Paper ◽  
The Law ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Consultation Paper ◽  
Law Commission

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the readership to the consultation being held by the Law Commission concerning proposed revisions to the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Design/methodology/approach – Discussion of the consultation being held by the Law Commission concerning proposed revisions to the DoLS. Findings – These are as yet unknown as the consultation period is ongoing – it is planned that a future paper will examine the findings and recommendations from the consultation process. Practical implications – There has been criticism of the DoLS since their introduction in 2009. A new scheme provides the opportunity to respond to some of the criticisms and to develop more appropriate processes. The paper invites readers to take part in the consultation process and to respond to the proposals that have been developed. Social implications – A new and more appropriate scheme would be beneficial for service users and families/caregivers. Originality/value – This is the first opportunity for a revision to the DoLS scheme and introduction of the proposed scheme and the consultation process to the readership is highly appropriate and valuable to the Journal.

scholarly journals Lasting powers of attorney: implications for clinicians

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Curtice ◽  
Isurima Katuwawela ◽  
Richard McCollum
Keyword(s):  
Case Law ◽  
Mental Capacity ◽  
Personal Health ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Mental Capacity Act 2005 ◽  
The Law ◽  
Mental Capacity Act ◽  
First Time

SummaryIssues relating to capacity are increasingly topical and relevant, particularly following the implementation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Powers of attorney are one such issue that requires the assessment of capacity for their execution. This article focuses on lasting powers of attorney (LPAs), which were introduced under the Mental Capacity Act in 2007. We describe how LPAs evolved and how they have been used since the inception of the Act. We review salient case law. In doing so, we elucidate pertinent issues for clinicians, particularly in the case of health and welfare LPAs: for the first time in England and Wales, the law allows donors to nominate an attorney to make decisions about their personal health and welfare once they become incapacitated.

Employment references and the law

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 39-42
Author(s):  
Engin Mustafa
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Risk Averse ◽  
Value Judgments ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Law ◽  
Resource Specialists ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Minimal Information

Purpose – This paper aims to examine whether employers are bound to provide references on former employees and the kinds of information they should contain. Design/methodology/approach – It arrives at a set of conclusions through considering case law in England and Wales. Findings – It explains why writing a reference is increasingly the responsibility of human-resource specialists in an organization. Practical implications – It reveals that employers have a number of options, the choice between which will depend upon the organization’s aversion to risk and its balancing of the obligations felt to employees and their future employers. Social implications – It considers that, in an increasingly risk-averse culture, more and more organizations are providing minimal information in references on former employees and avoiding value judgments. Originality/value – It considers the state of the law in England and Wales as regards writing references on former employees.

scholarly journals Reforming Wildlife Law: The Law Commission Proposals for Wildlife Law and Wildlife Sanctions

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-80
Author(s):  
Keith Vincent
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Regulatory Enforcement ◽  
Consultation Process ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Law ◽  
Law Commission

This article critically examines a an ongoing review commenced in 2012 by the United Kingdom’s Law Commission into new wildlife laws for England and Wales by considering four interlinked elements of the process. First, it outlines the underlying subject matter and regulatory aims of wildlife law.  It then describes the scope of the Law Commission’s Wildlife Law Project, identifying some of the key problem areas it sought to address and referencing its consultation process conducted in the later part of 2012. Next the article summarises the Law Commission’s view for a new wildlife law regime. The fourth element explores the current and potential roles of criminalising and non-criminalising sanctions. With a continued focus on the underlying subject matter and regulatory aims, discussion centres on the greater use of non-criminalising civil sanctions in wildlife law. The paper supports the Law Commission’s argument that the creation of a civil sanctions regime is not tantamount to decriminalisation in its true sense but simply widens the available regulatory enforcement options.

Unfitness to Plead in England and Wales

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rudi Fortson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Learning Disability ◽  
Developmental Disorder ◽  
Criminal Offence ◽  
Legal Process ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Criminal Jurisdiction ◽  
Communication Impairment ◽  
The Law ◽  
Law Commission

This chapter examines the legal and practical issues encountered by practitioners when dealing with unfitness to plead litigation. As the Law Commission for England and Wales has pointed out, defendants charged with a criminal offence may be unfit to plead or to stand trial for a variety of reasons, including difficulties resulting from mental illness, learning disability, developmental disorder, or communication impairment. Two issues are considered: (i) how might those defendants who are unfit be accurately identified; and (ii) what steps should be taken by legal practitioners and by the courts of criminal jurisdiction to cater for the interests of vulnerable defendants, victims, and society, and to maintain the integrity of the legal process as one that is fair and just? The chapter evaluates the reform proposals of the English Law Commission and assesses how the law could be improved for all those who are involved in dealing with the unfit to plead.

scholarly journals Diminished responsibility and alcohol

2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 193-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuwan Galappathie ◽  
Krishma Jethwa
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Life Sentence ◽  
The Law ◽  
Diminished Responsibility

SummaryIn England and Wales diminished responsibility is a partial defence to the charge of murder. If successfully argued by the defence, it reduces the charge from murder to manslaughter and thus avoids the mandatory life sentence. Alcohol has been reported to be a feature in up to 80% of all homicides but for many years the judiciary have set an almost unattainable threshold for the disease of alcoholism to amount to a finding of diminished responsibility, in accordance with other aspects of criminal law. Reform of the law on murder is likely to take many years but it is timely to recap the current law on diminished responsibility and review advances in case law in England and Wales on alcohol.

Counterfactual Reasoning and Expropriation Compensation: An Argument for Elimination of Elimination Rules

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sjur K Dyrkolbotn
Keyword(s):  
Legal Reasoning ◽  
Counterfactual Thinking ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Property Value ◽  
Counterfactual Reasoning ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Legal Professionals ◽  
Unique Mode ◽  
The Law ◽  
Law And Legislation

AbstractTo award compensation for expropriated property, it is usually necessary to determine what the value of the property would have been if there had been no expropriation. This requires counterfactual thinking, a form of “make-believe” reasoning that legal professionals and valuators often find difficult to apply. The challenge becomes particularly difficult and important when the scheme underlying expropriation influences the value of the property that is taken. In such situations, rules developed in case law and legislation often attempt to clarify when aspects of property value should be attributed to the expropriation scheme and disregarded from further consideration. This article critically addresses elimination rules of this kind, arguing that they interfere with counterfactual assessments in ways that can render these assessments more difficult, less predictable, and more open to manipulation. To illustrate the overarching point, it is argued that recent proposals for reform in England and Wales, aiming to constrain the scope of contrary-to-fact elimination in expropriation cases, might not work as intended and could potentially make the situation worse. More broadly, the article argues that counterfactual reasoning in expropriation cases cannot be circumvented by legislative and casuistic interventions. Just as the law of tort, the law of expropriation compensation illustrates why counterfactual reasoning should be recognised as an irreducible and unique mode of legal reasoning, one that should be addressed as such by legal theorists and lawmakers alike.

Exclusive possession or the intention of the parties? The relation of landlord and tenant in Northern Ireland

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-223
Author(s):  
Mark Hayward
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
House Of Lords ◽  
The Law

The seminal House of Lords judgment in Street v Mountford established that the test for distinguishing between a lease and a licence is whether the occupant has been granted exclusive possession of the premises. The test is objective: the relation of landlord and tenant exists where exclusive possession has been granted, regardless of the intention of the parties. However, this stands at odds with the law in both parts of Ireland, where s 3 of Deasy's Act states that the relation of landlord and tenant 'shall be deemed to be founded on the . . . contract of the parties'. This article analyses the historical background that led to Deasy's Act, surveys contemporary case law in both parts of Ireland on leases vs licences and argues that the law in this area in Northern Ireland differs from that in England and Wales.

scholarly journals Effective Participation of Mentally Vulnerable Defendants in the Magistrates’ Courts in England and Wales—The ‘Front Line’ from a Legal Perspective

2020 ◽  
pp. 002201832095711
Author(s):  
Helen Howard
Keyword(s):  
Legal Reform ◽  
Legal Aid ◽  
Front Line ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Legal Professionals ◽  
Legal Reforms ◽  
Legal Perspective ◽  
The Law ◽  
Law Commission

Mentally vulnerable defendants who struggle to effectively participate in their trial in the magistrates’ courts are not receiving the same protection as those who stand trial in the Crown Court. The Law Commission for England and Wales recognised this lacuna and suggested that the law relating to effective participation should be equally applicable in the magistrates’ courts. On closer examination of the law, the legal aid system and perspectives of legal professionals on the ‘front line’, it is clear that improvements in policy are of greater importance than legal reform and are more likely to meet the needs of these vulnerable individuals. The aim of this paper will be to demonstrate that reform of the law will be insufficient to adequately protect mentally vulnerable defendants in the magistrates’ courts and that changes in policy are needed in place of, or alongside, legal reforms.

Is mental capacity in the eye of the beholder?

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 30-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Ruck Keene
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Mental Capacity ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mental Capacity Act 2005 ◽  
Mental Capacity Act

Purpose The purpose of this paper – written by a practising barrister specialising in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 – is to survey law and practice in England and Wales with a view to sketch out a preliminary answer as to whether it can be said there is, in fact, any legally defensible concept of mental capacity. Design/methodology/approach Review of case-law in England and Wales and relevant domestic and international law, in particular the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (“CRPD”). Findings It is right, and inescapable, to say that mental capacity is in the eye of the beholder, and will remain so even if we seek to recast our legislative provisions. Rather – and perhaps ironically – the conclusion set out above means that we need to look less at the person being assessed, and more at the person doing the assessing. We also need to further look at the process of assessment so as to ensure that those who are required to carry it out are self-aware and acutely alive to the values and pre-conceptions that they may be bringing to the situation. Research limitations/implications It seems to me that it is right, and inescapable, to say that mental capacity is in the eye of the beholder, and will remain so even if we seek to recast our legislative provisions. Absent major developments in neuroscience, it will inescapably remain a concept which requires judgments based on interactions between the assessor and the assessed. But that is not thereby to say that it is an irremediably relative and flawed concept upon which we cannot place any weight. Rather the conclusion set out above means that we need to look less at the person being assessed, and more at the person doing the assessing. We also need further to look at the process of assessment so as to ensure that those who are required to carry it out are self-aware and acutely alive to the values and pre-conceptions that they may be bringing to the situation. Originality/value This paper serves as a reflection on the best part of a decade spent grappling with the MCA 2005 in and out of the court room, a decade increasingly informed by and challenged by the requirements of the CRPD.

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