Judicial precedent, the policies underlying the finality requirement of appellate jurisdiction, and the purposes of the Insanity Defense Reform Act all support treating pretrial commitment orders as collateral and immediately appealable. This doctrine provides that pretrial commitment orders are final trial court orders from which there is a statutory right to appeal. The orders conclusively determine the defendant's right to be free prior to trial. Postconviction review of the orders is meaningless, because nothing that can be done after trial can compensate the defendant for the time spent confined in a mental institution. Finding erroneous incompetency determinations as soon as possible furthers the policy of the finality rule to avoid unnecessary delay. When the incompetency finding is erroneous, the protection afforded defendants by the Insanity Defense Reform Act is unnecessary. Immediate appeal preserves the integrity of the court by providing the means promptly to contest a finding of incompetency, thereby protecting the system from unnecessary cost and delay. 171 footnotes.