Lunacy Act, 1890

• Permanent Page URL

Right of lunatic to be examined by judicial authority.

Form 5.

Form 6.

Form 7.

8.—(1) When a lunatic has been received as a private patient under an order of a judicial authority, without a statement in the order that the patient has been personally seen by such judicial authority, the patient shall have the right to be taken before or visited by a judicial authority, other than the judicial authority who made the order, unless the medical officer of the institution, or, in the case of a single patient, his medical attendant, within twenty-four hours after reception, in a certificate signed and sent to the Commissioners, states that the exercise of such right would be prejudicial to the patient.

(2) Where no such certificate has been signed and sent, the manager of the institution in which the patient is, or the person having charge of him as a single patient, shall, within twenty-four hours after reception, give to the patient a notice in writing of his right under this section, and shall ascertain whether he desires to exercise the right; and if he, within seven days after his reception, expresses his desire to exercise the right, such manager or person shall procure him to sign a notice of such desire, and shall forthwith transmit it by post in a prepaid registered letter to the judicial authority, who is to exercise the jurisdiction under this section, or to the justices clerk of the petty sessional division or borough, where the lunatic is, to be by him transmitted to such judicial authority, and the judicial authority shall thereupon arrange, as soon as conveniently may be, either to visit the patient or to have the patient brought before him by the manager or person as the judicial authority may think fit.

(3) The judicial authority shall be entitled, if he desires so to do, to see the medical certificates and any other documents, upon the consideration of which the reception order was made, and shall after personally seeing the patient send to the Commissioners a report, and the Commissioners shall take such steps as may be necessary to give effect to the report.

(4) For the purposes of this section the jurisdiction shall be exercised by any judicial authority having authority to act in the place where the person received is, and not being the judicial authority who made the reception order; and arrangements shall for that purpose from time to time be made amongst themselves by the persons having such authority as aforesaid.

(5) If any manager of an institution for lunatics, or any person having charge of a single patient, omits to perform any duty imposed upon him by this section, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

The Judicial Authority defined.