Section 66
المؤلف:
MALCOLM McIVER
المصدر:
Caring for People with Learning Disabilities
الجزء والصفحة:
P145-C9
2025-10-26
194
Section 66
Section 66 of the Mental Health Act 1983 put in place the legislation required to create the Mental Health Review Tribunals. There is a Tribunal for each of the National Health Service Regions in England, with a single one just for Wales. Each Tribunal consists of medical members, legal members and lay members. Every member is appointed by the Lord Chancellor, although the appointment of the lay and medical members is undertaken following consultation with the Secretary of State, under the guidance of the Department of Constitutional Affairs. The purpose of the Mental Health Review Tribunals is to hear appeals against detention, for those sections in which appeals are permitted, from either the individual who is detained or his/her nearest relative. The act also imposes a duty upon hospital managers to automatically refer cases to the Tribunal where detained individuals eligible to appeal, or their nearest relative, have failed to do so.
Every detained patient whose section permits an appeal is entitled to make one application to the Tribunal for each of the authorized periods of detention. Proceedings are generally formal and often the parties involved will be represented by lawyers. After considering an appeal, there are a number of options available to the Tribunal. It can:
• reject the appeal, in which case the detention order remains in place for the duration of the authorized period, or
• reclassify the form of mental disorder on the application, for example it may conclude that a patient is suffering from mental impairment rather than, say, psychopathic disorder, or
• direct that a patient be discharged, or
• recommend the patient be granted leave of absence, or
• direct that the patient be transferred to another hospital, or
• transfer into guardianship.
For people with learning disabilities and their carers, the Mental Health Act 1983 is, for the most part, irrelevant. Only those who exhibit abnormally aggressive or seriously irresponsible behavior will be subject to it. However, for those who are subjected to it, the legislation now looks increasingly dated and fails to reflect current human rights legislation. It is envisaged that the amendments to the act will take into account human rights law and introduce significant new rights and safeguards for patients.
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