The High Court has refused an application to release a man detained involuntarily at Tallaght Hospital, finding that his detention under an admission order was lawful despite irregularities in the process that led to it.
In a judgment delivered on 28 July 2008, Mr Justice Michael Peart ruled on an inquiry under Article 40.4.2 of the Constitution. The applicant, identified in the judgment as M. Z., was admitted under an order signed on 5 July. He accepted that he had a mental illness but denied having a mental disorder.
Gardaí took him into custody under section 12 of the Mental Health Act 2001 after receiving information from a hospital consultant and the applicant’s brother about his condition and concerns for safety. At the station, however, a registered medical practitioner arranged for the brother to make an application under section 9, rather than having a Garda make the application under section 12. The judge said the Act required a Garda application to continue the section 12 process, but found that the section 9 application began a fresh procedure and that the brother was entitled to make it. He said the applicant should ideally have been told that he was no longer detained under section 12 when that change occurred, but the failure to do so did not require his release.
The applicant also challenged the doctor’s examination at the station, which consisted of an informal conversation lasting about ten minutes. The judge expressed reservations about how it was conducted and noted that the doctor had not kept notes or carried out what he described as a mental state examination. He nevertheless concluded that the doctor’s experience, observations and conversation, together with background information, provided a sufficient basis for the recommendation. The complaint did not invalidate the admission order.
The consultant psychiatrist at Tallaght Hospital examined the applicant about seven and a half hours after his arrival. The judge found that this delay did not breach the requirement to examine him “as soon as may be” in the circumstances. He also found that the admission order was sent to the Mental Health Commission later than the Act’s 24-hour deadline. He described this as a technical breach that had not affected the applicant’s rights in a fundamental way.
The court concluded that the applicant was lawfully detained under the admission order and refused his release. The judgment noted that his detention remained subject to review by a Mental Health Tribunal under section 18 of the Act.