Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reform the legal criteria for unfitness to stand trial under the Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964; and what assessment he has made of the suitability of the 1836 Pritchard criteria when evaluating defendants with complex learning disabilities.

Firstly, it was constructive to meet with you and your constituent Katherine Prior to discuss your concerns around the law on fitness to plead and the consequences which can flow from a finding that an individual is unfit to plead. As I indicated in the meeting together with my officials, we will revert to you in relation to the important issues which you raised.

The Government agrees that this area of law needs to be updated. The Law Commission reviewed the law on unfitness to plead, and the Government has accepted the majority of its recommendations including a revised test for unfitness to plead.

The Government is actively considering how best to take these reforms forward, alongside potential changes to the defence of insanity, which is also being considered by the Law Commission. This is a complex area of law and it is important that any future reforms are considered carefully to ensure that the legislation is coherent, workable and provides protections for defendants, victims and the public.

As set out in the answer of 7 July 2026 to UIN 13835, the Ministry of Justice does not hold specific data on trials which do not go ahead because the defendant was found unfit to stand trial. The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes data on outcomes in the criminal courts; however, this does not currently allow us to identify whether a trial did not proceed specifically because the defendant was found unfit to stand trial. Our Satiations regularly reviewing the content of publications to ensure they meet the needs of users in line with our commitments to the code of practice