Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2018
A legal finding of unfitness to plead results in automatic committal of the accused to a mental hospital. In Scotland, if criminal proceedings are under solemn jurisdiction, there is a mandatory order restricting discharge without limit of time and the hospital must be a state hospital unless for special reasons an alternative hospital is appropriate (Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure [Scotland] Act 1975). The mental condition of a person found unfit to plead may subsequently improve such that he may become fit to be tried in the normal way. In England and Wales the Home Secretary has power, under Section 5(4) of the Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964, to remit to prison for trial a person found unfit to plead who subsequently recovers. On arrival of such a person in prison the hospital and restriction orders cease to have effect. The Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964 does not apply to Scotland; authority to reprosecute unfit defendants in sheriff courts and the High Court rests exclusively with procurators fiscal and the Crown Office respectively. The status of the original hospital and restriction orders in reprosecuted cases is unclear.
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