The High Court has declined to order an inquiry into the detention of an anonymised patient at St. Stephen’s Hospital, finding no grounds for concern about its lawfulness.
In an ex tempore ruling delivered on 21 March 2023, Stack J. considered the patient’s written application under Article 40.4.2 of the Constitution. The applicant said he was unlawfully detained and sought, in substance, an inquiry. He also applied for legal aid.
The court was told that the applicant had been admitted involuntarily under an order dated 17 February 2023. A Mental Health Tribunal reviewed that order at a hearing on 2 March and affirmed it. Its decision said the Tribunal was satisfied that relevant provisions of the Mental Health Act 2001 had been complied with and that the applicant was suffering from a mental disorder as defined by the Act.
Stack J. addressed a date discrepancy in the Tribunal’s written decision. Its first page referred to 2 February as the date of the admission order under review, but the judge said the decision as a whole made clear that the Tribunal had reviewed the order dated 17 February. The error was typographical and did not invalidate the decision or its reasoning, the judge said.
The ruling records that the applicant had a solicitor at the Tribunal hearing. The solicitor said the applicant had given no instructions and wished to speak for himself. Stack J. said the applicant had been afforded legal advice and representation, although he did not appear to have given instructions or permitted the solicitor to make representations for him. The judge also noted that an independent consultant psychiatrist had reviewed the grounds for detention.
The court said further extensions of detention would be subject to similar procedural safeguards and independent Tribunal review, with detention limited to periods of no more than six months. It concluded there were no grounds to order an Article 40 inquiry and declined to direct one. The ruling did not order the applicant’s release.