FIT-R
Definition
Fitness Interview Test-Revised; a structured competency assessment instrument developed for the Canadian criminal law framework, covering understanding of proceedings, consequences, and ability to communicate with counsel.
- Full name
- Fitness Interview Test-Revised
- Jurisdiction
- Canada
- Format
- Structured competency interview
- Domains covered
- Understanding proceedings, consequences, communicating with counsel
Common questions
How does the FIT-R relate to the Dusky standard used in the US?+
Both assess whether a defendant can understand proceedings and assist counsel, but the FIT-R is a structured instrument built specifically for the Canadian legal framework, with its own administration and scoring procedure, rather than a direct import of the US Dusky test.
Is a FIT-R result on its own sufficient to declare a defendant unfit for trial?+
The instrument structures the clinical interview and highlights areas of concern, but the fitness determination itself remains a legal decision made by the court, informed by the clinician's report rather than dictated by the instrument's score alone.
Related terms
- BNSS § 367
- Provision of India's Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 governing court procedure when an accused person appears to be of unsound mind; cognitive...
- CP(MIP) Act 2003
- New Zealand Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act 2003, providing the statutory framework for fitness-to-stand-trial determinations and court-ordered treatment.
- Dusky Standard
- The US Supreme Court's 1960 two-pronged test for competency to stand trial: sufficient present ability to consult with counsel with rational understanding,...
- Jackson V. Indiana (1972)
- US Supreme Court ruling that indefinite commitment of a defendant solely on the basis of incompetency violates due process if there is...
- MacCAT-CA
- MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Criminal Adjudication; a 22-item standardised instrument measuring Understanding, Reasoning, and Appreciation of the trial process, grounded in...
- Presser Test
- The Australian standard from R v. Presser (1958) setting out the cognitive capacities a defendant must possess to be fit to stand...
- Pritchard Criteria
- The 1836 English common-law criteria for fitness to plead, updated in R v. M (John) 2003 to include the ability to give...
- Restoration of Competency
- The treatment process, usually pharmacological (for psychotic illness) or educational (for knowledge-based deficits), through which an incompetent defendant is brought to competency...