Q&A: what happens now?

SOHAM, England (CNN) -- Ian Huntley has been charged with the murders of British 10-year-old school friends Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells.

He is being held at Rampton top security hospital after being "sectioned" under the Mental Health Act 1983. (Full story)

The act allows the detention of people who are suffering from mental disorders.

Q: How long can he be held?

A: Huntley is being held following an application under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act 1983 to "undergo further assessment."

The section allows a 28-day period to allow an assessment of a person's mental health difficulties to be made.

If, at the end of the 28-day period, doctors feel that a longer period of assessment is required, a further order, under Section 3, can be made allowing the person to be held for up to six months.

Q: What is Rampton?

A: Along with Broadmoor and Ashworth, Rampton is one of the UK's top three high security hospitals, and is where some of the country's most dangerous individuals are housed -- with about three-quarters of its 400 patients having committed "very serious crimes."

Patients are detained under Mental Health Act 1983 after doctors certify they need treatment under secure conditions on account of their "dangerous, violent or criminal tendencies."

Figures supplied by Rampton show patients stay at the hospital for an average of seven-and-a-half years, but a "very small number" are kept there until they die.

Q: Why has Huntley been taken to the hospital?

A: The grounds for a Section 2 application, as stated in the act, are that the person is suffering from a mental disorder of a nature or degree which warrants detention for assessment for at least a limited period and he ought to be so detained in the interests of his own health or safety, or with a view to the protection of other persons.

One of the grounds for a Section 3 detention is that a person is suffering from mental illness, severe mental impairment, psychopathic disorder or mental impairment and his mental disorder is of a nature or degree which make it appropriate for him to receive medical treatment in a hospital.

Q: What will happen to him there?

A: The normal procedure would be for doctors to complete their assessment of a patient before deciding whether he is fit to stand trial.

In the meantime, the case against him will continue to be prepared. There are likely to be pre-trial hearings in front of a senior judge who will preside over deliberations to see whether he is fit to plead.

The judge will hear reports from psychiatrists at Rampton and also psychiatrists called in by the defence team.

Q: Is it possible he may not face trial?

A: If there is a dispute over whether the defendant is fit to stand trial then a judge and jury decides the issue. The question of fitness to plead rests on whether a person can instruct his lawyers and is able to understand the legal proceedings.

A defendant who claims to be mentally incapable must obtain proof from medical experts.

The prosecution could ask for a trial of the facts to determine whether the detained person committed the actions of which he or she was accused, but there would be no finding of guilt.

Q: How does a person's mental state affect the charge they face?

A: Huntley has been charged with murder which carries a mandatory life sentence. If found fit to stand trial, a person facing a murder charge could plead guilty to manslaughter with diminished responsibility. If the prosecution decides to press the murder charge, the accused can raise the defence of insanity.

Q: What are the implications of defence of insanity?

A: A successful defence of insanity requires proof that the defendant was acting as a result of a defect of reason which was in itself the result of a disease of the mind. If these criteria are satisfied, then the accused is recognised as acting involuntarily as a result of his illness and is not liable for murder.

Pleading not guilty by reason of insanity has proved a very difficult defence. While a successful insanity plea would allow a person to be acquitted of murder, they would likely face been detained indefinitely at a secure unit.