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19 1945

MENTAL TREATMENT ACT, 1945

PART III.

Mental Hospital Districts and Mental Hospital Authorities.

Mental hospital districts.

14. —(1) For the purposes of this Act the State shall be divided into the districts specified in the Second Schedule to this Act, and such districts shall be known and are in this Act referred to as mental hospital districts

(2) The Minister may by order change the area to be included in any mental hospital districts, subject to the limitation that any area so changed shall consist of an administrative county, two or more administrative counties, a county borough, a county borough and an administrative county, or a county borough and two or more administrative counties.

(3) The Minister may include in an order under sub-section (2) of this section such consequential and ancillary provisions as he thinks proper, including, in particular, provisions relating to—

(a) the transfer or retention of property or liabilities,

(b) the payment, on account of any such transfer or retention, of money, either in one sum or by instalments,

(c) the transfer of officers or servants,

(d) the transfer of patients.

Mental hospital authorities.

15. —There shall be a local administrative authority for each mental hospital district and such authority shall be—

(a) where the mental hospital district consists of an administrative county—the council of the county, and

(b) where the mental hospital district consists of a county borough—the corporation of the county borough, and

(c) in any other case—a board appointed jointly in accordance with section 16 of this Act.

Appointment of joint board, etc.

16. —A joint board shall be appointed in accordance with the provisions in that behalf of the Rules contained in the Third Schedule to this Act and the other provisions of those Rules shall also have effect in relation to a joint board.

General provisions relating to joint board.

17. —The following provisions shall have effect in relation to a joint board

(a) the board shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession by the name given to them by order of the Minister,

(b) the board shall have power to sue and be sued in their corporate name,

(c) the board shall have power to hold and dispose of land,

(d) the board shall provide and have a common seal and such seal shall be authenticated by the signature of the chairman or some other member authorised to act in that behalf and the signature of an officer of the board authorised to act in that behalf,

(e) all courts of justice shall take judicial notice of the seal of the board and every document purporting to be an order or other instrument made by them and to be sealed with their seal (purporting to be authenticated in accordance with the foregoing paragraph) shall be received in evidence and be deemed to be such order or instrument without further proof unless the contrary is shown,

(f) the board shall be an elective body within the meaning and for the purposes of the County Management Acts, 1940 and 1942,

(g) the board shall for all purposes be the successors of the joint committee of management which immediately before the commencement of this Part of this Act operated under section 9 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, in respect of the relevant district and, accordingly, every reference in any statute or other enactment in force immediately before the commencement of this Part of this Act to a joint committee of management of a district mental hospital shall be deemed, where appropriate, to include a reference to the board and every reference in this Act to a joint board shall be deemed, where appropriate, to include a reference to the joint committee of which the board are the successors,

(h) the Minister may by order make such provision as he thinks proper in regard to any matters which arise in consequence of the first establishment of the board and in respect of which provision is not made by this Act.

Transfer of property to joint board, etc.

18. —The following provisions shall have effect in relation to a joint board and the local authorities appointing the members thereof:—

(a) all property and assets (including choses-in-action) vested in or belonging to the authorities immediately before the commencement of this Part of this Act for the purposes of a hospital or other institution maintainable by the board shall, upon such commencement, become and be the property and assets of the board by virtue of this section without any conveyance, assignment, or act other than transfer (where appropriate) in the books of a bank, company, or other body;

(b) all debts and liabilities (present or future) incurred by the authorities in relation to such hospital or other institution and owing immediately before the commencement of this Part of this Act (whether then presently due or to become due certainly or contingently in future) shall upon such commencement become and be the debts and liabilities of the board and shall be discharged in due course by them;

(c) every bond, guarantee, or other security of a continuing character made or given in relation to such hospital or other institution by the authorities to another person or by any person to the authorities and in force immediately before the commencement of this Part of this Act, and every contract or agreement in writing made in relation to such hospital or other institution between the authorities and another person not fully executed and completed before the commencement of this Act, shall continue in force after such commencement but shall be construed and have effect as if the board were substituted therein for the authorities, and such security, contract, or agreement shall be enforceable by or against the board accordingly;

(d) in every action, suit, prosecution, or other proceeding in relation to such hospital or other institution which is pending at the commencement of this Part of this Act and to which the authorities are parties, the board shall, on the commencement of this Part of this Act, become and be a party in the place of the authorities and such action, suit, prosecution, or other proceeding shall be continued between the board and the other parties thereto accordingly;

(e) every person who immediately before the commencement of this Part of this Act is an officer or servant in such hospital or other institution shall upon such commencement become and be an officer or servant (as the case may require) of the board upon, subject to the provisions of this Act, the same terms and conditions as those upon which he held office or employment immediately before such commencement;

(f) all moneys raised in relation to such hospital or other institution by any of the authorities before the commencement of this Part of this Act may be levied after such commencement as if this Act had not been passed and shall be paid to the board for the purposes of their functions under this Act.