Making Sense of Mental Health Law Issues in Canada
Recent public concern about homelessness, criminalization and victimization of people with serious mental illness and, occasionally high profile violence, has brought mental health law into the public consciousness more than ever before. Significant recent changes to legislation have added complexity for those needing to stay on top of trends. Butterworths Canadian Mental Health Law and Policy, 2nd Edition, tackles this controversial topic, providing readers with an understanding of these laws while offering a roadmap for the future.
Authors John Gray, Margaret Shone and Peter Liddle bring immense experience and a broad range of expertise to this comprehensive and very readable publication.
Features and Benefits
- Expert analysis - providing an understanding of why mental health laws exist and have recently changed
- Relevant legislation - showing how mental health laws actually work and how they differ
- Case law - important tribunal and court decisions such as the landmark Supreme Court of Canada Starson case.
- Recommended provisions - for a model "Mental Health Treatment Act"
New in This Edition
- Complete analysis of the multitude of legislative changes, including major amendments to the Ontario Mental Health Act; enactment of the Nova Scotia Involuntary Psychiatric Treatment Act (2005); Newfoundland and Labrador Mental Health Care and Treatment Act (2006); and the Alberta Mental Amendment Act (2007), which has received royal assent, but is not yet in force.
- Discussion of recently introduced community treatment orders.
- More in-depth coverage of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and potential Charter challenges
- Mental Health Courts and comparisons of Canadian with foreign laws
Who Should Buy
- Medical institutions and associations who need to disseminate mental law health information to their professionals
- Mental health facilities who need a broader understanding of the issues and the options that are available to them in their specific province
- Psychiatrists and psychologists who need to stay abreast of the latest changes in legislation and also be familiar with major court decisions
- Health lawyers who require guidance on how to protect the constitutional rights of their clients
- University Law and Health faculty and students who need solid understanding of mental health law for their law school, psychology, social work or medical courses
- Non-professionals seeking to understand the law to help relatives or themselves and those wanting to improve the law through advocacy
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Foreword - Richard L. O'Reilly
Foreword - Bill MacPhee
Introduction
Overview of Mental Health Legislation in Canada
Environmental Scan: Historical, Legal, Service and Advocacy
The Nature, Causes and Treatment of Mental Disorders
Criteria for Involuntary Admission to Hospital
Admission Procedures and Hospitalization
Psychiatric Treatment Authorization and Refusal
Assisted Community Treatment
Rights and Safeguards
Mandated Services, Comprehensive Mental Health Legislation
and National Involvement
Psychiatric Treatment and the Criminal Justice System
Trends and Recommendations
Appendix 1 - Mental Health Acts: Definitions of Mental Disorder
and Involuntary Admission Criteria
Appendix 2 - Mental Health Acts: Treatment Authorization Provisions
John E. Gray, M.A., Ph.D., Margaret A. Shone, Q.C., B.A., LL.B., LL.M. & Peter F. Liddle, B.M.B.Ch., Ph.D., M.R.C.Psych.
John E. Gray, M.A., Ph.D., was a policy advisor on mental health legislation in the British Columbia Ministry of Health for over 20 years. In Saskatchewan, he served on the Mental Health Act Review Committee while he was Executive Director of the province's largest psychiatric hospital. He is adjunct professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario and adjunct professor, Gerontology Research Centre, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver.
Margaret A. Shone, Q.C., B.A., LL.B., LL.M., is an internationally recognized legal scholar who works to improve the laws in Alberta. She is a strong advocate for the rights of those with mental disabilities and fought for the inclusion of mental disability in the Alberta Individual's Rights Protection Act. In 1992, she received the Suzanne Mah Award from the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission for her outstanding leadership in promoting human rights in the practice of the law. She had a primary role in drafting the "Drewry Report" which led to major changes in Alberta's Mental Health Act.
Peter Liddle, B.M.B.Ch., Ph.D., M.R.C.Psych, was the Jack Bell Professor of Psychiatry and Head of the Schizophrenia Division of the University of British Columbia from 1994-2001. He is currently Professor of Psychiatry, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom, where he is also a consultant psychiatrist to the psychosis early intervention service. Dr. Liddle has conducted numerous research studies on brain structure and functioning in psychotic illnesses.
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