Mental health courts gain popularity across Canada

Crown Attorney Ruth Peters Wakeham and Newfoundland Provincial Court judge David Orr in a Mental Health Court in St. John’s.

Photo by Joe Gibbons

Donalee Moulton writes in the June 1st edition of The Lawyers Weekly:

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In Nova Scotia, no formal investigation into the issue is underway, but the establishment of a mental health court is clearly being bandied about. The Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society devoted the most recent issue of its monthly newsletter to the topic. In that issue, Frank Hoskins, chief Crown attorney for the Halifax Region and Special Prosecutions, noted that, “Currently, Nova Scotia has an Adult Diversion Program, which is a post-charge, pre-trial option to the criminal justice system. A pre-charge option is worthy of consideration as it would create another viable alternative to deal with minor offences.

“In cases where it’s more appropriate,” he added, “this would enable specifically trained police officers to divert an accused away from the criminal justice system. More serious offences could be directed to the mental health court where judges and lawyers qualified or trained to deal with cases of this nature (and with ready access to the appropriate health professionals, which could include psychologists, psychiatrists and case workers) could develop and implement an appropriate treatment plan.”

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... “The custodial response to people with mental health problems is an historic one,” said Archie Kaiser, a professor in the Faculty of Law and Department of Psychiatry at Dalhousie University.

“To incarcerate people merely because we have failed to develop appropriate supports has always been shameful,” he added. “In 2007, this is totally unacceptable.”

For the entire article, click here.