Overview

Of all the issues that bring mental health practitioners and the criminal courts together, fitness to stand trial is by far the most common. In Canada, thousands of fitness assessments, psychiatric reports, fitness hearings, and verdicts of either “fit” or “unfit” to stand trial are rendered every year. For such a common event, one would be inclined to think that, for the most part, the law is uncontroversial; that most of the issues have been settled. Fitness to Stand Trial lays out the law as it is seemingly settled, and discusses several areas where the law is much less settled. What exactly is required of the accused in terms of their ability to think rationally? Does one need to be “fit to stand trial” in order to proceed with a bail hearing? Or, post-verdict, with sentencing? Can an otherwise unfit accused become “fit enough” with the assistance of counsel? Does the test for unfit to stand trial contain a prospective element? These and many other less-than-clear aspects of the fitness rules are explored fully in this new volume.

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9781552214978

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Richard D. Schneider is a Justice of the Ontario Court of Justice, where he presides at Toronto's Mental Health Court, and alternate chair of the Ontario and Nunavut Review Boards. He is also an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and an adjunct lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto. He was recently appointed honorary president of the Canadian Psychological Association. He has published extensively in the area of mental disorder and the law. Hy Bloom, LLB, MD, FRCP(C) is a forensic psychiatrist and lawyer who assesses individuals who have mental illnesses and outstanding criminal charges. Dr Bloom has published on a number of topics in psychiatry and the law.

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