Procedure for conduct of special hearing
43W Procedure for conduct of special hearing
(1) A special hearing is to be conducted as nearly as possible as if it were a criminal trial.
At a special hearing:
the accused person is taken to plead not guilty;
(b) the accused person's legal representative (if any) may exercise the accused person's right of challenge;
(c) the accused person may raise any defence (including the defence of mental impairment) that he or she could raise at a criminal trial;
the rules of evidence apply;
the accused person may give evidence; and
(f) any alternative finding of guilt that would be available for a jury at a criminal trial is available to the jury at the special hearing.
The Judge must explain to the jury:
(a) that a real and substantial question has been raised as to the accused person's fitness to be tried;
the meaning of being unfit to stand trial;
(c) the purpose of the special hearing, the findings that are available to the jury and the consequences of the findings at law and otherwise; and
the standard of proof required for the findings.
The statute text is free to read above. View subscription options to unlock the case-law research tools for each provision.