In which criminal cases, and on what finding about the accused or suspect, does a legal representative stand in and carry out the procedural acts?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
For this exercise, the papers to read are the charging document or case papers describing the offence, so it can be seen whether the case falls outside the provisions of the Criminal Act on incapacity, any medical or other record bearing on the accused's capacity at the relevant time, and the paper identifying the legal representative appointed or recognised in the case.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading confines the provision to criminal cases to which the Criminal Act provisions on incapacity do not apply, and there, where the defendant or suspect has no capacity, the legal representative acts as representative in the party's procedural acts, standing in the party's place in the proceeding.
Another reading stresses the wording 'has no capacity', so it covers a total lack and leaves open how the file should treat a party whose capacity is diminished but not absent, and it does not say which procedural acts the legal representative may carry out or whether the party may still act alongside.
Your judgment
If the file shows the offence is outside the Criminal Act provisions on incapacity but the capacity evidence is contested, how should the record show who is entitled to act in the party's name?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We revisit this card if the provision is amended to change which crimes it reaches or to add a lesser degree of incapacity, or if a court decision defines which offences fall outside those Criminal Act provisions or what counts as having no capacity.