JUSTICE FOR ALL the commission of further crimes, reduce ‘their dangerousness’ to themselves and others, and be offered therapy. The custodial measures can take different forms depending on the national legal systems. In certain States, they remain in the purview of the criminal justice system and are referred to as “security measures” or “preventive custodial measures”. In other States, suspected and accused persons declared not fit to stand trial or not criminally responsible or only partly criminally responsible are diverted from criminal proceedings to “mental health commitment regimes”, also referred to as “compulsory commitment regimes/treatments”. Defendant: A person suspected or accused of a crime in a criminal proceeding. Defendants and detainees with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities: The research conducted in the framework of the project showed that the national systems often do not foresee sufficient support for defendants and detainees with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities in their criminal proceedings. Relevant provisions foreseen in the 2013 Recommendation have not been implemented into national law. Ordinary proceedings are often not equipped to respond to needs of persons concerned (i.e., appropriate ways of ensuring participation, such as a modified “letter of rights” or inclusion of additional persons to provide support). In some jurisdictions, trials may be held in absentia if the person concerned is presumed “unfit to stand trial”, thus effectively excluding them. Deprivation of liberty: For the purpose of this project, the term “deprivation of liberty” should be understood in line with the definition given by the OPCAT under Art 4: “any form of detention or imprisonment or the placement of a person in a public or private custodial setting which that person is not permitted to leave at will by order of any judicial, administrative or other authority.” Detainee or person deprived of liberty: A person arrested, in pre-trial detention, imprisoned, subjected to security measures/ preventive custodial measures, mental health commitment regimes, preventive detention, or otherwise subjected to any other custo- dial measures amounting to a deprivation of liberty as defined under Art 4 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT). Execution or post-trial stage: This stage starts after a final and binding conviction judgement and goes until the end of the execution of a sentence. Fitness to stand trial (or fitness to plead): Fitness to stand trial usually refers to the defendant’s mental condition at the time of the criminal proceedings and whether any such condition impacts his/her ability to understand the nature or object of the proceedings, understand the possible consequences of the proceedings or communicate with counsel. This is common, especially in common law traditions. According to the UNCRPD Committee, “declarations of unfitness to plead … and the detention of persons based on those declarations, are contrary to Art 14 of the Convention since it deprives the person of his or her right to due process and safeguards that are applicable to every defendant.”2 Hearings in absentia: A hearing in the context of criminal proceedings that takes place in the physical absence of the accused. Trial hearings usually require, at the very least, that the legal representative of the accused is present. Imprisonment: Detention after a final judgement of conviction. Legal capacity: According to Art 12 UNCRPD, legal capacity refers to the capacity to be a holder of rights under the law as well as the capacity “to engage in transactions and create, modify or end legal relationships”. Art 12 of the UNCRPD refers to equal recognition before the law and requires States Parties to “recognize that persons with disabilities enjoy legal capacity on an equal basis with others in all aspects of life” and to ”take appropriate measures to provide access by persons with disabilities to the support they may require in exercising their legal capacity”. According to the UNCRPD Committee, legal capacity differs from mental capacity, defined as “the decision-making skills of a person, which naturally vary from one person to another and 11