New guidance for prosecutors on mental health conditions and disorders
Guidance for prosecutors on dealing with defendants with mental health issues has been updated to reflect growing understanding of different conditions, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has announced today.
The revised guidance is designed to assist decision making throughout the life of a criminal case, from the initial decision to prosecute, through fitness to plead to sentencing. It has been developed to understand changes in the mental health landscape such as diversion services, and community concerns about the impact on the criminal justice system.
A consultation has now been launched so that the views of the public, charities, and health and legal professionals can be considered further before the guidance is finalised.
Max Hill QC, Director of Public Prosecutions, said: “It is no surprise that dealing with mental health issues is an everyday feature of life in the criminal justice system so I’m determined that the CPS leads the way in ensuring that we treat this issue with the importance and sensitivity that it deserves.
“When mental health is a factor in a case, our lawyers must weigh up whether prosecution is the right approach, or whether there’s another way to protect society. Every case must be decided on its specific facts, and it’s essential that prosecutors have clear guidance as they make these complex decisions.
“It’s important that we get this right, and I look forward to hearing from both experts and the public on this new guidance.”
A random sample of nearly 400 cases across England and Wales found that one in five involved a defendant, victim or witness with a mental health issue.
Key information included in the draft guidance includes:
- information for prosecutors about different types of mental health conditions, and their clinical presentation;
- consideration of the admissibility of confessions where a suspect has a mental health issue;
- potential legal defences a defendant may have for offences, including reasonable belief in self-defence for violent offences, and automatism, where a person loses control of their body;
- information about potential community treatments or non-criminal justice diversions for some low-level defendants with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety and depression, as well as autistic spectrum disorders and learning disabilities.
- the use of reasonable adjustments to support effective participation by defendants with mental health issues, for example, allowing them to use special measures, such as giving evidence from behind a screen to help alleviate anxiety.
The CPS has separate guidance to support victims and witnesses with mental health issues through the criminal justice system.
The consultation runs until 4 June 2019. The final version of the guidance will be published later this year.
Notes to editors
- The Consultation, including the draft guidance, is available in the consultations section of this website.
- In 2017 a manual data exercise was undertaken across the CPS in which 30 random finalised cases were analysed; a total of 390 cases. They were made up of 260 Magistrates’ Court Cases, 65 Crown Court cases and 65 RASSO cases. The significant finding was that in at least 1 in 5 cases there was a defendant, victim or witness with a mental health issue, with almost an equal split between defendants and victims and witnesses
- Prosecution guidance which deals with victims and witnesses who have mental health issues or learning disabilities is available in the Prosecution Guidance section of this website.
About the Crown Prosecution Service
- The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was established in 1986 to prosecute criminal cases that have been investigated by the police and other investigative organisations in England and Wales. Our duty is to make sure that the right person is prosecuted for the right offence, and to bring offenders to justice wherever possible. We make our decisions independently of the police and government.
- The CPS operates across England and Wales, with 14 regional teams prosecuting cases locally. Each team is led by a Chief Crown Prosecutor for the Area.
- In the 12 months to 31 March 2018:
- The CPS prosecuted 533,161 cases in England and Wales
- The percentage of defendants prosecuted who either pleaded guilty or were found guilty at court was 84.1 per cent
- The CPS employs approximately 6,000 staff, 91 per cent of whom worked in positions directly linked to successfully prosecuting cases at court.