MacCAT-CA
Definition
MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Criminal Adjudication; a 22-item standardised instrument measuring Understanding, Reasoning, and Appreciation of the trial process, grounded in Dusky criteria.
- Item count
- 22 standardized items
- Measures
- Understanding, Reasoning, and Appreciation of trial process
- Legal grounding
- Dusky and Pritchard standards
Common questions
What is MacCAT-CA used for?+
MacCAT-CA assesses whether a defendant has the ability to stand trial. It evaluates three core capacities: understanding the trial process, reasoning about choices during trial, and appreciating how the process applies to your own case.
How does MacCAT-CA work?+
The tool uses 22 standardized items to measure competence-related abilities. It is grounded in the Dusky legal standard, which defines trial competence, and maps to Pritchard criteria that expand how competence is understood across jurisdictions.
Who administers MacCAT-CA?+
Forensic evaluators, typically psychologists or psychiatrists conducting competence assessments, administer the tool. It produces a structured, comparable measure of trial competence that helps courts evaluate a defendant's capacity for criminal adjudication.
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...
- Atkins V. Virginia
- US Supreme Court 2002 decision holding that executing intellectually disabled defendants violates the Eighth Amendment; requires DSM-standard intellectual disability determination including Flynn-corrected...
- 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.
- Dual-Deficit Requirement
- DSM-5 requirement for intellectual disability diagnosis: deficits in both measured intellectual functioning and adaptive behaviour, both present before age 18.
- 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,...
- FIT-R
- Fitness Interview Test-Revised; a structured competency assessment instrument developed for the Canadian criminal law framework, covering understanding of proceedings, consequences, and ability...
- Flynn Effect
- Documented approximately 3-point-per-decade rise in population mean IQ scores; requires correction when IQ scores obtained with older norms are used in legal...
- FSIQ
- Full-Scale IQ; derived from 10 core WAIS-IV subtests; primary score used in intellectual disability determinations and Atkins proceedings.
- Hall V. Florida
- US Supreme Court 2014 decision requiring courts to account for IQ measurement error and the Flynn effect before enforcing rigid IQ cutoffs...
- 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...
- NIMHANS Neuropsychological Battery
- Normative neuropsychological battery published by NIMHANS Bangalore with Indian-population norms; primary reference for forensic cognitive assessment in India.
- Performance Validity Test (PVT)
- Any test designed to detect inadequate effort or deliberate underperformance in cognitive assessment; TOMM is the leading example for memory; embedded PVTs...
Explained in these topics
- Competence to Stand Trial: Dusky, Pritchard and BNSS § 367MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Criminal Adjudication; a 22-item standardised instrument measuring Understanding, Reasoning, and Appreciation of the t...
- Intelligence and Cognitive Assessment in Forensic ContextMacArthur Competence Assessment Tool-Criminal Adjudication; standardised instrument for assessing competence-related abilities that maps onto the Dusky and Pri...