The Pritchard Criteria are used to assess a person for them to be declared fit to stand trial.
First, they must be able to understand the charges. They have to be conscious. They must have good hearing. These are basic examples. Deaf and mute persons might not understand the charges. Persons with dementia may not understand charges. Also people with severe autism.
Second, they must have the ability to plead guilty or not guilty. The person must be able to decide.
Also, they must be able to challenge jurors, or in Kenya be able to put up their defence. They should be able to instruct their lawyers. They should also be able to follow proceedings and give evidence in their own defence.
If the accused is unable to do any one of these things then he or she is unfit to plead.
Most people confuse this with insanity defence. This is where an accused would plead or their lawyer will plead that at the time of committing an offence, they had adverse mental symptoms. This is different from being unfit to stand trial.
Insanity defence does not mean you’re unfit to stand trial. If you can fulfil the Pritchard Criteria above you can still stand trial. Pleading insanity is not defence because you will still go through the above test.
So what happens if you cannot fulfil the Pritchard Criteria and are declared unfit to stand trial? In this case you can be taken to hospital to start treatment. Once you recover and the psychiatrist examines you, the trial will resume.
But in some cases you may not recover at all. For example, someone with severe mental retardation may not recover at all even with treatment, so the court decides what to do. Others are cases of severe Alzheimer's, dementia, and autism.
Dr Chitayi is the president of the Kenya Psychiatric Association (KPA)