(1) If, at the commencement of or at any time during the course of the hearing
of proceedings under the Bail Act 2013 before an authorised justice, it
appears to the authorised justice that the defendant is a mentally ill person
or a mentally disordered person, the authorised justice may (without affecting
any other order under the Bail Act 2013 that the officer may make in relation
to the defendant)--
(a) order that the defendant be taken to, and detained in,
a mental health facility for assessment, or
(b) order that the defendant be
taken to, and detained in, a mental health facility for assessment and that,
if the defendant is found on assessment at the mental health facility not to
be a mentally ill person or mentally disordered person, the defendant be
brought back before a Magistrate or an authorised justice as soon as
practicable unless granted bail by a police officer at that facility.
(2) An
authorised justice is to state the reasons for making a decision as to whether
or not a defendant should be dealt with by an order under subsection (1).
(3)
A failure to comply with subsection (2) does not invalidate a decision of an
authorised justice under this section.
