The Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986

General N.I.

Visiting and examination of patients N.I.

81.  For the purpose of advising whether an application to the Review Tribunal should be made by or in respect of a patient who is liable to be detained or subject to guardianship under this Order or of furnishing information as to the condition of a patient for the purposes of such an application, any medical practitioner authorised by or on behalf of the patient or other person who is entitled to make or has made the application—

(a) may at any reasonable time visit the patient and examine him in private, and

(b) may require the production of and inspect any records relating to the detention or treatment of the patient in any hospital.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 Art. 81 applied (with modifications) (31.3.2013) by Mental Health (Private Hospitals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 (S.R. 2012/403), regs. 1, 3(5)(e)(i), 4

C2 Art. 81 applied (with modifications.) (31.3.2013) by Mental Health (Private Hospitals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013 (S.R. 2013/22), regs. 1, 3(5)(e), 4

[F1 Applications to the tribunal N.I.

82.— (1) Applications to the Review Tribunal may be made only in such cases and at such times as are expressly provided by virtue of this Order, the 2016 Act or any other statutory provision.

(2) Where any statutory provision authorises an application to be made to the Review Tribunal within a specified period, not more than one such application relating to the same matter may be made within that period; but for this purpose any application withdrawn in accordance with rules made under Article 83 is to be disregarded.

(3) Any application to the Review Tribunal is to be made by notice in writing addressed to the tribunal (but this is subject to any statutory provision which provides otherwise).

(4) The Department of Justice may make regulations about what is, or is not, to be regarded as the same matter for the purposes of paragraph (2).

(5) Regulations under paragraph (4) may be made only if a draft of the regulations has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, the Assembly.]

F1 Art. 82 substituted (2.12.2019) by Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 (c. 18), s. 307(2), Sch. 8 para. 47 (with ss. 285-287); S.R. 2019/163, art. 2(2), Sch. Pt. 2 (with art. 3) (as amended by S.R. 2019/190, art. 2)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C3 Art. 82 applied (31.3.2013) by Mental Health (Private Hospitals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013 (S.R. 2013/22), regs. 1, 3(5)(f), 4

Procedure of tribunal N.I.

83.—(1) The Lord Chancellor may [F2 , after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice,] make rules with respect to the making of applications to the Review Tribunal and with respect to the proceedings of the tribunal and matters incidental to or consequential on such proceedings.

[F3 (1A) The Lord Chief Justice may nominate any of the following to exercise his functions under paragraph (1)—

(a) the holder of one of the offices listed in Schedule 1 to the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002;

(b) a Lord Justice of Appeal (as defined in section 88 of that Act).]

(2) Rules made under this Article may in particular make provision—

(a) for enabling the tribunal, or the chairman of the tribunal, to postpone the consideration of any application by or in respect of a patient, or of any such application of any specified class, until the expiration of such period (not exceeding 12 months) as may be specified in the rules from the date on which an application by or in respect of the same patient was last considered and determined by the tribunal F4 ...;

(b) for restricting the persons qualified to serve as members of the tribunal for the consideration of any application, or of an application of any specified class;

(c) for enabling the tribunal to dispose of an application without a formal hearing where such a hearing is not requested by the applicant, where the proceedings are of a specified class or where it appears to the tribunal that such a hearing would be detrimental to the health of the patient;

(d) for enabling the tribunal to exclude members of the public, or any specified class of members of the public, from any proceedings of the tribunal, or to prohibit the publication of reports of any such proceedings or the names of any persons concerned in such proceedings;

(e) for regulating the circumstances in which, and the persons by whom, applicants and patients in respect of whom applications are made to the tribunal may, if not desiring to conduct their own case, be represented for the purposes of those applications;

(f) for regulating the methods by which information relevant to an application may be obtained by or furnished to the tribunal, and in particular for authorising the members of the tribunal, or any one or more of them, to visit and interview in private any patient by or in respect of whom an application has been made;

(g) for making available to any applicant, and to any patient in respect of whom an application is made to the tribunal, copies of any documents obtained by or furnished to the tribunal in connection with the application, and a statement of the substance of any oral information so obtained or furnished except where the tribunal considers it undesirable in the interests of the patient or for other special reasons;

(h) for requiring the tribunal, if so requested in accordance with the rules, to furnish such statements of the reasons for any decision given by the tribunal as may be prescribed by the rules, subject to any provision made by the rules for withholding such a statement from a patient or any other person in cases where the tribunal considers that furnishing it would be undesirable in the interests of the patient or for other special reasons;

(i) for conferring on the tribunal such ancillary powers as the Lord Chancellor thinks necessary for the purposes of the exercise of its functions F5 ....

(3) Paragraphs (1) and (2) apply in relation to references to the Review Tribunal as they apply in relation to applications to the tribunal by or in respect of patients.

(4) Rules under this Article may make provision as to the procedure to be adopted in cases concerning restricted patients and, in particular, for restricting the persons qualified to serve as president of the tribunal for the consideration of an application or reference relating to a restricted patient.

(5) Any functions conferred on the chairman of the Review Tribunal F6 ... may, if for any reason he is unable to act, be exercised by the deputy chairman [F7 (but this is subject to any rules under this Article)] .

(6) The Review Tribunal may pay allowances in respect of travelling expenses, subsistence and loss of earnings to any person attending the tribunal as an applicant or witness, to the patient who is the subject of the proceedings if he attends otherwise than as the applicant or a witness and to any person (other than counsel or a solicitor) who attends as the representative of an applicant.

(7) The Review Tribunal may, and if so required by the Court of Appeal shall, state in the form of a special case for determination by the Court of Appeal any question of law which may arise before it and the decision of the Court of Appeal shall be final.

(8) [F8 Part I of the Arbitration Act 1996] shall not apply to any proceedings before the Review Tribunal except so far as any provisions of that Act may be applied, with or without modifications, by rules made under this Article.

[F9 (9) Any reference in this Article to a patient includes a person by or in respect of whom an application or reference to the Review Tribunal is made under the 2016 Act or any other statutory provision.]

F2 Words in art. 83(1) inserted (3.4.2006) by Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c. 4), ss. 15(2), 148(1), Sch. 5 para. 74(2); S.I. 2006/1014, art. 2(a), Sch. 1 paras. 10, 12(a)

F3 Art. 83(1A) inserted (3.4.2006) by Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c. 4), ss. 15(2), 148(1), Sch. 5 para. 74(3); S.I. 2006/1014, art. 2(a), Sch. 1 paras. 10, 12(a)

F4 Words in art. 83(2)(a) repealed (2.12.2019) by Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 (c. 18), s. 307(2), Sch. 8 para. 48(2), Sch. 11 (with ss. 285-287); S.R. 2019/163, art. 2(2), Sch. Pt. 2 (with art. 3) (as amended by S.R. 2019/190, art. 2)

F5 Words in art. 83(2)(i) repealed (2.12.2019) by Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 (c. 18), s. 307(2), Sch. 8 para. 48(2), Sch. 11 (with ss. 285-287); S.R. 2019/163, art. 2(2), Sch. Pt. 2 (with art. 3) (as amended by S.R. 2019/190, art. 2)

F6 Words in art. 83(5) repealed (2.12.2019) by Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 (c. 18), s. 307(2), Sch. 8 para. 48(5)(a) (with ss. 285-287); S.R. 2019/163, art. 2(2), Sch. Pt. 2 (with art. 3) (as amended by S.R. 2019/190, art. 2)

F7 Words in art. 83(5) inserted (2.12.2019) by Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 (c. 18), s. 307(2), Sch. 8 para. 48(5)(b) (with ss. 285-287); S.R. 2019/163, art. 2(2), Sch. Pt. 2 (with art. 3) (as amended by S.R. 2019/190, art. 2)

F8 1996 c. 23

F9 Art. 83(9) inserted (2.12.2019) by Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 (c. 18), s. 307(2), Sch. 8 para. 48(6) (with ss. 285-287); S.R. 2019/163, art. 2(2), Sch. Pt. 2 (with art. 3) (as amended by S.R. 2019/190, art. 2)

Interpretation of Part V N.I.

84.—(1) In this Part “restricted patient” means a patient who is subject to a restriction order or restriction direction and this Part shall, subject to the provisions of this Article, have effect in relation to any person who—

(a) is subject to a direction which by virtue of Article 52(3) has the same effect as a hospital order and a restriction order; or

(b) is subject to an order which by virtue of Article[F10 50A(3) shall be treated] as a hospital order and a restriction order (including an order made under Article[F10 50A(2)] by virtue of section 11 or 13(5A) of the [1980 c. 47] Criminal Appeal (Northern Ireland) Act 1980);

(c) is treated as subject to a hospital order and a restriction order or to a transfer direction and a restriction direction by virtue of section 81(2) of the [1983 c. 20] Mental Health Act 1983 or [F11 article 4(2) of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 (Consequential Provisions) Order 2005],

as it has effect in relation to a restricted patient.

(2) Subject to the following provisions of this Article in this Part “the relevant hospital order” and “the relevant transfer direction”, in relation to a restricted patient, mean the hospital order or transfer direction by virtue of which he is liable to be detained in a hospital.

(3) In the case of a person within paragraph (1)(a), references in this Part to the relevant hospital order or restriction order shall be construed as references to the direction referred to in paragraph (1)(a).

(4) In the case of a person within paragraph (1)(b), references in this Part to the relevant hospital order or restriction order shall be construed as references to the order under the provisions mentioned in paragraph (1)(b).

(5) In the case of a person within paragraph (1)(c), references in this Part to the relevant hospital order, the relevant transfer direction, the restriction order or the restriction direction or to a transfer direction under Article 54 shall be construed as references to the hospital order, transfer direction, restriction order, restriction direction or transfer direction under that Article to which that person is treated as subject by virtue of the provisions mentioned in paragraph (1)(c).

F10 1996 NI 24

F11 SI 2005/2078