PART 6

Miscellaneous

69. —(1) A person shall not place a patient in seclusion or apply mechanical means of bodily restraint to the patient unless such seclusion or restraint is determined, in accordance with the rules made under subsection (2), to be necessary for the purposes of treatment or to prevent the patient from injuring himself or herself or others and unless the seclusion or restraint complies with such rules.

(2) The Commission shall make rules providing for the use of seclusion and mechanical means of bodily restraint on a patient.

(3) A person who contravenes this section or a rule made under this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,500.

(4) In this section “patient” includes—

(a) a child in respect of whom an order under section 25 is in force, and

(b) a voluntary patient.

70. —Notwithstanding section 9(7) of the Control of Clinical Trials Act, 1987 , a person suffering from a mental disorder who has been admitted to an approved centre under this Act shall not be a participant in a clinical trial.

71. —(1) The governing body of each approved centre shall appoint in writing a consultant psychiatrist to be the clinical director of the centre.

(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing a consultant psychiatrist from being the clinical director of more than one approved centre.

72. —(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, where immediately before the commencement of Part 2, a person stood detained under section 171, 178, 184 or 185 of the Act of 1945, he or she shall be regarded for the purposes of this Act as having been involuntarily admitted under that Part to the institution in which he or she was so detained.

(2) In the case of a person who immediately before such commencement stood detained under section 184 or 185 of the Act of 1945, his or her treatment and detention shall be regarded as authorised by virtue of this Act until the expiration of the period during which he or she may be detained pursuant to the said section 184 or 185 as may be appropriate.

(3) In the case of a person detained under section 171 or 178 of the Act of 1945, his or her treatment and detention shall be regarded as authorised by virtue of this Act for a period not exceeding 6 months after the commencement of this section.

(4) The detention of a person referred to in subsection (2) or (3) shall be referred to a tribunal by the Commission before the expiration of the period referred to in subsection (2) or (3), as may be appropriate, and the tribunal shall review the detention as if it had been authorised by a renewal order under section 15 (2).

(5) As soon as may be after the commencement of this section, the clinical director of the institution concerned shall furnish the Commission with particulars of the persons detained in the institution under the provisions of the Act of 1945.

(6) During the period of 3 years from the commencement of Part 2, or such shorter period as may be prescribed, a hospital or other in-patient facility for the care and treatment of persons with a mental disorder which, immediately before such commencement, was providing such care and treatment, shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be an approved centre.

(7) During the period referred to in subsection (6), the provisions of Part X of the Act of 1945 shall apply to a centre which, immediately before the commencement of Part 2, was registered under the said Part X as if the centre were a private institution within the meaning of that Part.

(8) During the period referred to in subsection (6), the provisions of Part XI of the Act of 1945 shall apply to a centre which, immediately before the commencement of Part 2, was registered under the said Part XI as if the centre were a private charitable institution within the meaning of that Part.

(9) The provisions of Part XII of the Act of 1945 shall apply to a hospital or other in-patient facility in which the care and treatment of persons with a mental disorder or mental illness is begun during the period referred to in subsection (6).

(10) In this section, “centre” means a hospital or other in-patient facility for the care and treatment of persons suffering from a mental disorder or a mental illness.

73. —(1) No civil proceedings shall be instituted in respect of an act purporting to have been done in pursuance of this Act save by leave of the High Court and such leave shall not be refused unless the High Court is satisfied:

(a) that the proceedings are frivolous or vexatious, or

(b) that there are no reasonable grounds for contending that the person against whom the proceedings are brought acted in bad faith or without reasonable care.

(2) Notice of an application for leave of the High Court under subsection (1) shall be given to the person against whom it is proposed to institute the proceedings and such person shall be entitled to be heard against the application.

(3) Where proceedings are, by leave granted in pursuance of subsection (1) of this section, instituted in respect of an act purporting to have been done in pursuance of this Act, the Court shall not determine the proceedings in favour of the plaintiff unless it is satisfied that the defendant acted in bad faith or without reasonable care.

74. —(1) Proceedings for a summary offence under this Act may be brought and prosecuted by the Commission.

(2) Notwithstanding section 10(4) of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, summary proceedings for an offence under this Act may be instituted within 12 months from the date of the offence.

(3) Where an offence under this Act has been committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of a person being a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate, or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, that person as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of an offence and be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he or she were guilty of the first-mentioned offence.

(4) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (3) shall apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his or her functions of management as if he or she were a director or manager of the body corporate.

75. —The Minister shall, not later than 5 years after the establishment day, carry out a review of the operation of this Act and shall make a report to each House of the Oireachtas of his or her findings and conclusions resulting from the review.