Essentials: Assessing Fitness to Plead & be Interviewed

The outcome of your comment on a person’s fitness to be interviewed and fitness to plead will greatly impact the Criminal Justice Process, and you may be asked to justify your findings in court.

Led by Dr Mike Ventress, Forensic Psychiatrist, South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, this seminar gives you a good understanding of the processes. You will learn the difference between the assessments of fitness to be interviewed by the police, and fitness to plead in court.  You will learn about the safeguards and consequences for people found unfit. The outcome of this seminar is for you to enable fair, robust and legal procedures on behalf of mentally disordered detainees and allow you to give reliable evidence in court.

After attending this course you will be able to:

• Give evidence in court to support your findings
• Understand the process of assessing fitness to be interviewed and fitness to plead
• Understand the safeguards for those found unfit

 Suitability

This course offers 3 CPD points and is suitable for all mental health and learning disabilities professionals, along with police and appropriate adults.