CHAPTER 5: FITNESS TO STAND TRIAL, ASSESSMENTS AND APPEALS TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 3 II. JUDICIAL INTERIM RELEASE .................................................................................................. 7 A. GENERAL ................................................................................................................................... 7 B. RELEASE BY THE OFFICER IN CHARGE .............................................................................................. 7 C. APPEARANCE BEFORE A JUSTICE .................................................................................................... 9 D. BAIL AND MENTALLY DISABLED ACCUSED ..................................................................................... 13 III. REMANDS FOR PSYCHIATRIC OBSERVATION ..................................................................... 14 A. ASSESSMENT ORDERS ................................................................................................................ 14 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 14 2. Presumption against Custody ........................................................................................... 28 B. PROTECTED STATEMENTS ........................................................................................................... 29 IV. FITNESS TO STAND TRIAL .................................................................................................. 31 A. PRESUMPTION OF FITNESS .......................................................................................................... 34 B. "UNFIT TO STAND TRIAL" ........................................................................................................... 34 1. General ............................................................................................................................. 34 2. “On Account of Mental Disorder” .................................................................................... 35 3. "Unable to Conduct a Defence on Account of Mental Disorder" ...................................... 35 4. Unable on Account of Mental Disorder to “Understand the Nature or Object of the Proceedings” ........................................................................................................................ 37 5. Unable on Account of Mental Disorder to “Understand the Possible Consequences of the Proceedings” ........................................................................................................................ 38 6. Unable on Account of Mental Disorder to “Communicate with Counsel” ........................ 38 7. Accused Unfit for Reasons other than a “Disease of the Mind” ....................................... 44 V. THE FITNESS HEARING ....................................................................................................... 53 A. GENERAL ................................................................................................................................. 53 B. PROCEDURE AFTER A FITNESS HEARING HAS BEEN ORDERED ............................................................ 56 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 56 2. Jury Trials ......................................................................................................................... 56 3. Nature of the Proceedings ................................................................................................ 59 4. When May the Issue of Fitness Be Raised? ...................................................................... 59 5. Who May Raise the Issue of Fitness? ............................................................................... 62 6. Counsel for Unrepresented Accused ................................................................................. 65 VI. ACCUSED FOUND UNFIT TO STAND TRIAL ......................................................................... 66 A. GENERAL ................................................................................................................................. 66 1. The Plea ............................................................................................................................ 67 2. ReView of Evidence ........................................................................................................... 67 3. Disposition ........................................................................................................................ 68 4. Treatment Orders and Accused Found Unfit to Stand Trial .............................................. 69 B. REVIEW BOARD ASSESSMENT OF FITNESS ...................................................................................... 71 C. APPEALS FROM A DISPOSITION OR PLACEMENT DECISION ................................................................ 74 Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre Current to September 2016 Page 1 CHAPTER 5: FITNESS TO STAND TRIAL, ASSESSMENTS AND APPEALS D. MANDATORY AND DISCRETIONARY REVIEWS OF DISPOSITIONS ......................................................... 74 E. APPEALS AND FITNESS ................................................................................................................ 76 1. Crown ............................................................................................................................... 76 2. Accused ............................................................................................................................ 77 3. Court ................................................................................................................................. 78 4. Appeals to the Supreme Court of Canada ........................................................................ 81 VII. ETHICAL ISSUES ................................................................................................................ 81 VIII. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 86 APPENDIX .............................................................................................................................. 88 FORMS ........................................................................................................................................ 88 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 92 Page 5- 2 Alberta CiviL Liberties Research Centre REPRESENTING MENTALLY DISABLED PERSONS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM I. Introduction UntiL the 1990s, persons who were found unfit to stand trial (UST) couLd be incarcerated indefiniteLy before they were convicted of an offence. These individuals wouLd be heLd in custody at the pLeasure of the provincial Lieutenant Governor. In some provinces, Review Boards advised the Lieutenant Governors as to whether detainees shouLd be reLeased, but the Lieutenant Governors were not obLigated to foLLow the recommendations of these Boards. As a resuLt, Lawyers were often reLuctant to raise the issue of their cLient's fitness to stand trial, especialLy for minor offences, because there was a risk that the accused wouLd spend more time in custody under a Lieutenant Governor's Warrant than he or she wouLd have spent incarcerated if found guiLty of the offence.1 The enactment of Part XX.1 to the Criminal Code has obviated some of these concerns. 2 Prior to the enactment of Part XX.1, there were two chalLenges based on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms3 to the Criminal Code provisions dealing with mental disorder. R V Chaulk was the first, whereby majority of the Supreme Court of Canada ruLed that the requirement that the accused prove an inabiLity to understand the nature and quality of his or her act vioLated the accused’s right to be presumed innocent.4 However, this vioLation was constitutionalLy saved under section 1 of the Charter. A second Charter chalLenge came in R V Swain, where the Court struck down the provision for automatic, indefinite detention of a non-criminalLy responsibLe accused on the basis that it vioLated the accused’s section 7 Liberty rights.5 In response to Swain, ParLiament introduced sweeping changes to the Criminal Code in 1991 by enacting Part XX.1. Part XX.1 refLected an entireLy new approach to the probLem of the mentalLy iLL offender that attempted to address the twin goals of fair treatment for the mentalLy iLL and pubLic safety. Under the new scheme, once an accused person is found to have committed a crime whiLe suffering from a mental 1 Lieutenant Governor's Warrants are discussed in Chapter Eleven. 2 Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46 (hereinafter Criminal Code). 3 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982, being Schedule B of the Canada Act 1982 (UK), 1982, c 11 (hereinafter Charter of Rights or Charter). 4 R v Chaulk, [1990] 3 SCR 1303. 5 R v Swain, [1991] 1 SCR 933 (hereinafter Swain). Alberta CiviL Liberties Research Centre Page 5-3 CHAPTER 5: FITNESS TO STAND TRIAL, ASSESSMENTS AND APPEALS disorder that deprived him or her of the abiLity to understand the nature of the act or that it was wrong, that individual is diverted into a special stream. Section 672.22 estabLishes the