PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Tim Exworthy TI - Commentary: UK Perspective on Competency to Stand Trial DP - 2006 Dec 01 TA - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online PG - 466--471 VI - 34 IP - 4 4099 - http://jaapl.org/content/34/4/466.short 4100 - http://jaapl.org/content/34/4/466.full SO - J Am Acad Psychiatry Law2006 Dec 01; 34 AB - This commentary offers a perspective from another common law jurisdiction, specifically the law in England and Wales, where competency to stand trial on a criminal charge is known as fitness to plead. The commentary begins with a discussion on the principle of proportionality evident in health care decisions by way of comparison with the topic in the criminal arena. Fitness to plead is an historical legal concept and employs an intellectual test that has evolved very little since its appearance in case law. There have been amendments, through statute, to its procedure and outcomes following a determination of being unfit to plead. However, competency to stand trial in England and Wales remains a more marginal issue than in the United States. Recent developments in domestic and European jurisprudence have been related to consideration of the requirements for a fair trial, driven by the demands of the European Convention on Human Rights.