The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by C.D. against the refusal of an Article 40 inquiry to order her release from the Central Mental Hospital, holding that her detention remained authorised by a 1995 court order.
C.D. was found guilty of murder but insane in 1995 and ordered detained at the hospital “until the pleasure of the Government of Ireland be known”. The Supreme Court said that order remained in force. It affirmed the High Court’s decision that the document used when she was released in 2000 described a temporary release, not a permanent one.
Her case was that the 2000 release lacked a specified period and should therefore count as permanent. The High Court rejected that submission. On appeal, the Supreme Court said the 2000 document clearly provided for temporary release, and that later temporary release documents had been issued. It said a temporary or purported temporary release could not become a permanent release or nullify the original detention order.
The judgment also addressed her return to the hospital in August 2012. The High Court had heard uncontested medical evidence that C.D. had experienced an acute psychotic relapse over the preceding months, was engaging in self-harm and presented a serious likelihood of harm to herself or others. The court found that her condition met the relevant statutory definition of mental disorder and that urgent treatment at the hospital was required. The Supreme Court recorded that the clinical director’s opinion had changed: he no longer considered her not dangerous to herself or others, a precondition for temporary release under the Criminal Justice Act 1960.
The Supreme Court held that the detention’s legal basis was the 1995 order, rather than the terms of any temporary release. It dismissed the appeal and noted that legislation provided a process for review of detention. The judgment did not order her release.