Minister Ahern publishes Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2010
The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr. Dermot Ahern T.D., today published the Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2010.
The main purpose of the Bill is to provide greater power to the Mental Health (Criminal Law) Review Board in relation to the conditional discharge of patients who are detained by order of a court in a designated centre (the Central Mental Hospital), having been found unfit to be tried or not guilty by reason of insanity.
Under the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006, the Review Board may grant such patients conditional discharge where it is satisfied that the patient is suitable for such discharge but no power exists to recall the patient if the conditions of the discharge are breached. The Bill will amend the 2006 Act to provide that a patient can be returned to the centre if he or she is in material breach of the conditional discharge order.
Minister Ahern said: "This Bill is an important example of the necessity to ensure that the criminal justice system sets the right balance between safeguarding the rights of the person, particularly the vulnerable, and the need to protect the community. The conditional discharge provisions will enable patients to whom the 2006 Act applies, who are no longer in need of detention in the Central Mental Hospital, to be allowed their freedom, while ensuring that the welfare and safety of those patients and also the public interest are fully protected.
We must at all times strive for the greatest possible compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights and, in this respect, I am happy to amend our procedures for dealing with persons who may be unfit to be tried."
The Bill will also improve the operation of the provisions of the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006 which deal with the issue of fitness to be tried. In accordance with current procedures, where an issue of an accused person’s fitness to be tried arises, the person can be referred to the designated centre (Central Mental Hospital) for assessment. To remove any doubt about compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights, the Bill will require that a court first hears evidence from a consultant psychiatrist before requiring a full assessment of the accused person. The Bill also provides that the court can order that the assessment be carried out on an in-patient or out-patient basis.
The Bill is available on the Oireachtas website (www.oireachtas.ie).
28 January 2010
Note for Editors:
The Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006 clarified, modernised and reformed the law on criminal insanity and fitness to be tried.
The 2006 Act established the Mental Health (Criminal Law) Review Board, which is the independent body responsible for reviewing the detention of patients at the Central Mental Hospital who have been referred there arising from a decision by the courts that they are unfit to be tried or found not guilty of an offence by reason of insanity.
The members of the Review Board are the Honourable Mr Justice Brian McCracken, Dr Michael Mulcahy, Consultant Psychiatrist and Mr Tim Dalton, former Secretary General of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
Section 13 of the 2006 Act provides that the Review Board shall review the detention of patients and may grant conditional or unconditional discharge if it considers that the detention is no longer required. Section 13 does not provide that the conditions attached to an order for conditional discharge can be enforced and this has led to difficulties for the Review Board in considering the granting of such orders.
Section 4 of the 2006 Act sets out the procedure which applies where a person may be unfit to be tried. The section provides the courts with the power to refer that person for assessment to a designated centre for a period of up to 14 days.