An exploration of fitness to stand trial: background and current understanding

This course explores the legal concept of “unfit to stand trial” as outlined in Section 2 of the Criminal Code, providing a clear understanding of how mental disorder and cognitive ability affect trial participation. Key terminology is defined before focusing on the limited cognitive capacity test and its legal implications.
Using R v Taylor as a foundation, the course examines how rationality factors into determining fitness and addresses complex questions that arise in borderline cases. It also considers whether the presence of legal counsel can compensate for certain fitness deficiencies, offering a nuanced view of this critical aspect of criminal law.

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Hon Richard D Schneider, PhD, LLM, CPsych is a justice of the Ontario Court of Justice, a deputy judge of the Territorial Court of the Yukon, chair of the Ontario Review Board, and an alternate chair of the Nunavut Review Board. He is also an adjunct professor in the faculties of law and medicine at the University of Toronto. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Justice Schneider was a criminal defence lawyer, a clinical psychologist, and counsel to the Ontario Review Board. 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. He is a founding member of the PSILEX Group, Consultants in Behavioural Sciences and the Law. He is also a part-time staff member in the Complex Mental Illness/Forensic Services Program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto, an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University, and adjunct faculty at University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law. Dr Bloom has published on a number of topics in psychiatry and the law.