A special hearing under Part 2 of the Mental Health (Criminal Procedure) Act 1990 must include formal arraignment of the person charged, and the judge's determination must identify the elements of the charges, the relevant findings of fact, and the reasoning process linking them. The principle of open justice requires that evidence in a special hearing be publicly adduced, not merely tendered as documents without being read aloud. The court was divided on whether the tender of unsworn statements by consent was itself impermissible.
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