CRIMES ACT 1900 - SECT 331 Referral to ACAT

CRIMES ACT 1900 - SECT 331

    (1)     If this division applies, the relevant court may, before sentencing the convicted person, order him or her to submit to the jurisdiction of the ACAT to enable the ACAT—

        (a)     to determine whether or not the person has a mental impairment; and

        (b)     if the ACAT determines that the person has a mental impairment —to make recommendations as to how the person should be dealt with.

    (2)     If the ACAT notifies the relevant court that a convicted person has a mental impairment, the court shall, in consideration of the ACAT's recommendations, make any order it considers appropriate.

    (3)     The orders that the court may make under subsection (2) include an order that the person submit to the jurisdiction of the ACAT to enable the ACAT to make a mental health order or forensic mental health order.

    (4)     If the relevant court orders a person who is found by the ACAT to have a mental impairment to be sentenced to a period of imprisonment, the court shall not order the person to be imprisoned for a period greater than any period of imprisonment to which the person could have been sentenced, apart from that finding.