Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 December 2004
178 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if mentally ill prisoners who have been certified as insane are, on the day of their court appearance, suddenly certified as sane, only to be re-certified when the court appearance is over; the number of prisoners to whom this applied in the past three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33929/04]
View answerThe legal position in relation to transferring prisoners to the Central Mental Hospital is highly unsatisfactory. I intend to introduce new and realistic provisions as part of the Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill, which is awaiting Report Stage in the Seanad and will, I hope, be passed into law before Easter 2005 to deal with the transfer of prisoners to the Central Mental Hospital. In the meantime, such transfers must take place within existing outdated legislation.
A prisoner on remand certified to be of unsound mind by two doctors may, pursuant to section 13 of the Lunatic (Ireland ) Act 1875 as adapted and extended by the Criminal Justice Act 1960, be removed to the Central Mental Hospital on foot of a ministerial warrant and be held there in confinement until two doctors certify that person to be of sound mind where upon that person, on foot of a ministerial warrant, may be remitted to prison and be brought to court for examination. Therefore, if a remand prisoner, receiving treatment in the Central Mental Hospital is required to appear before the court and if there is not a pressing medical reason preventing such an appearance, the legal route that must be followed is that the prisoner must first be remitted to prison by ministerial warrant and then brought before the court. If the court decides upon a further remand in custody and the medical view is that the prisoner still needs treatment in the Central Mental Hospital, then he or she will be re-certified and be removed there on foot of a ministerial warrant. I am advised by the Director General of the Irish Prison Service that the statistical information on the number of such transfers is not readily available. However, the director general will arrange for the figures to be forwarded directly to the Deputy once they have been compiled.
The position regarding a person who has been committed to prison for trial is dealt with under section 3 of the Criminal Lunatics (Ireland) Act 1838, as adapted and extended by the Criminal Justice 1960. Such persons if deemed to be insane by two doctors may be removed to the Central Mental Hospital on foot of a ministerial warrant. Their position is more complicated as the question of their fitness to stand trial has to be determined. There is also provision in section 12 of the Central Criminal Lunatic Asylum (Ireland) Act 1845, as adapted and extended by the Criminal Justice Act 1960 for sentenced prisoners to be removed to the Central Mental Hospital on foot of a ministerial warrant but these prisoners fall outside the scope of the question.
In addition to the above, prisoners, who in the opinion of the prison medical officer are suffering from a psychiatric condition for which he or she cannot be afforded appropriate treatment within the institution, may be transferred to an appropriate hospital, including the Central Mental Hospital, on a voluntary basis under section 17 of the Criminal Justice Act 1914, as adapted. Prisoners, who are in the Central Mental Hospital on a voluntary basis and who have court appearances, would be collected by prison staff and taken to court. After the court appearance, they would be returned to the prison, from where they can be transferred again to the Central Mental Hospital, if required.
