(1)Where on the trial of a person the question arises (at the instance of the defence or otherwise) whether the accused is under disability, that is to say under any disability such that apart from this Act it would constitute a bar to his being tried, the following provisions shall have effect.
(2)The court, if having regard to the nature of the supposed disability the court are of opinion that it is expedient so to do and in the interests of the accused, may postpone consideration of the said question (hereinafter referred to as " the question of fitness to be tried ") until any time up to the opening of the case for the defence, and if before the question of fitness to be tried falls to be determined the jury return a verdict of acquittal on the count or each of the counts on which the accused is being tried that question shall not be determined.
(3)Subject to the foregoing subsection, the question of fitness to be tried shall be determined as soon as it arises.
(4)The question of fitness to be tried shall be determined by a jury; and—
(a)where it falls to be determined on the arraignment of the accused, then if the trial proceeds the accused shall be tried by a jury other than that which determined that question;
(b)where it falls to be determined at any later time it shall be determined by a separate jury or by the jury by whom the accused is being tried, as the court may direct.
(5)Where in accordance with subsection (2) or (3) of this section it is determined that the accused is under disability, the trial shall not proceed or further proceed.
(6)For the purpose of providing an appeal against a finding of the jury that the accused is under disability, section 2 of this Act (except subsection (3)) shall apply as if references to a special verdict included references to such a finding ; and—
(a)where the question of fitness to be tried was determined later than on arraignment, an appeal under section 2 of this Act against a finding that the accused was under disability may be allowed (notwithstanding that the finding was properly come to) if the Court of Criminal Appeal are of opinion that the case is one in which the accused should have been acquitted before the question of fitness to be tried was considered,
(b)if the court are of that opinion, the court shall, in addition to quashing the finding, direct a verdict of acquittal to be recorded,
(c)subject to paragraph (b) above, where an appeal is allowed against a finding that the accused is under disability, the appellant may be tried accordingly for the offence with which he was charged, and the court may make such orders as appear to the court to be necessary or expedient pending any such trial for his custody, admission to bail or continued detention under the Mental Health Act 1959.
(7)Sections 73, 74 and 76 of the Mental Health Act 1959 (which provide for the removal to or from hospital of persons committed for trial, etc.) shall apply to persons ordered under subsection (6)(c) of this section to be kept in custody pending trial as those sections apply to persons described in subsection (2)(a) to (c) of section 73, and Part V of that Act shall apply to persons for whose continued detention under the Act an order is made under subsection (6)(c) of this section as if they had been so ordered to be kept in custody pending trial and were detained in pursuance of a transfer direction together with a direction restricting discharge; and in the said section 76—
(a)the words " the court having jurisdiction to try or otherwise deal with him " shall be substituted in subsection (1) for the words " the court to which he was committed or by which he was remanded, as the case may be, " and in subsection (2)(a) for the words " the court to which he was committed or by which he was remanded " ; and
(b)the words " a person awaiting trial " shall be substituted in subsection (2)(b) for the words " a person committed for trial ".