The Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986

Further provisions as to prisoners under sentence N.I.

56.—(1) Where a transfer direction and a restriction direction have been given in respect of a person serving a sentence of imprisonment and before [F1 his release date] the Secretary of State is notified by the responsible medical officer, the Review Tribunal or any medical practitioner appointed for the purposes of Part II by the Commission that that person no longer requires treatment in hospital for mental disorder or that no effective treatment for his disorder can be given in the hospital to which he has been removed, the Secretary of State may—

(a) by warrant direct that he be remitted to any prison,F2 [F3 or juvenile justice centre] in which he might have been detained if he had not been removed to hospital, there to be dealt with as if he had not been so removed; or

(b) exercise, or authorise the managers of any[F3 juvenile justice centre]F4 to which he might have been remitted to exercise, any power of releasing him on licence or discharging him under supervision which would have been exercisable if he had been remitted as aforesaid;

and on his arrival in the prison,F2 [F3 or juvenile justice centre], or, as the case may be, his release or discharge as aforesaid, the transfer direction and the restriction direction shall cease to have effect.

[F1 (2) A restriction direction in the case of a person serving a sentence of imprisonment shall cease to have effect, if it has not previously done so, on his release date.

(3) In this Article, references to a person's release date are to the day (if any) on which he would be entitled to be released (whether unconditionally or on licence) from any prison or juvenile justice centre in which he might have been detained if the transfer direction had not been given; and in determining that day any powers that would be exercisable by the Sentence Review Commissioners or the Life Sentence Review Commissioners if he were detained in such a prison or juvenile justice centre shall be disregarded.]

(4) For the purposes of section 38(2) of the [1953 c. 18 (N.I.)] Prison Act (Northern Ireland) 1953 (which provides for discounting from the sentences of certain prisoners periods while they are unlawfully at large), a patient who, having been transferred in pursuance of a transfer direction from any such institution as is referred to in that section, is at large in circumstances in which he is liable to be taken into custody under any provision of this Order, shall be treated as unlawfully at large and absent from that institution.

F1 2003 c. 44

F2 prosp. subst. by 2002 c. 26

F3 1998 NI 9

F4 prosp. inserted by 2002 c. 26