MENTAL HEALTH ACT 2007 - SECT 19 Detention on certificate of medical practitioner or accredited person

MENTAL HEALTH ACT 2007 - SECT 19

19 Detention on certificate of medical practitioner or accredited person

(cf 1990 Act, s 21)

(1) A person may be taken to and detained in a declared mental health facility on the basis of a certificate about the person's condition issued by a medical practitioner or accredited person. The certificate is to be in the form set out in Part 1 of Schedule 1.

(2) A mental health certificate may be given about a person only if the medical practitioner or accredited person--

(a) has personally examined or observed the person's condition immediately before or shortly before completing the certificate, and

(b) is of the opinion that the person is a mentally ill person or a mentally disordered person, and

(c) is satisfied that no other appropriate means for dealing with the person is reasonably available, and that involuntary admission and detention are necessary, and

(d) is not a designated carer, the principal care provider or a near relative of the person.

(3) A mental health certificate may contain a police assistance endorsement that police assistance is required if the person giving the certificate is of the opinion that there are serious concerns relating to the safety of the person or other persons if the person is taken to a mental health facility without the assistance of a police officer. The endorsement is to be in the form set out in Part 2 of Schedule 1.

(4) A mental health certificate may not be used to admit or detain a person in a facility--

(a) in the case of a person certified to be a mentally ill person, more than 5 days after it is given, or

(b) in the case of a person certified to be a mentally disordered person, more than one day after it is given.

(5) In this section--


"near relative" of a person means a parent, brother, sister, child or spouse of the person and any other person prescribed for the purposes of this definition.