The Mental Health Act 2007 (Commencement No. 3) Order 2007 brings into effect a number of amendments to the Mental Health Act 1983 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
Most of the five provisions set out below (only) came into force on 1
October 2007. However two of these five provisions, relating to civil
partners as nearest relative(section 26) and consent for young people
aged 16 or 17 (section 43),come into force on later dates to allow
service providers time to prepare for the change.
Five of the changes are substantive:
- From 1st December 2007 : providing for civil partners to be patients'
nearest relatives for the purposes of the Act (and giving them equal status with spouses) - From 1st October 2007 : increasing the maximum penalty for ill-treatment or neglect of patients from 2 to 5 years
- From 1st October 2007 : requiring all future restriction orders made by the higher courts when ordering the detention of mentally disordered offenders in hospital to be made without limit of time, so the special restrictions they impose are only lifted when the Secretary of State for Justice or the Mental Health Review Tribunal is satisfied they are no longer needed to protect the public from serious harm
- From 1st January 2008 : allowing 16 or 17 year olds to refuse to be admitted to hospital for mental health treatment, even if their parents are willing to consent: this is so that these young people do not end up in effect detained in hospital against their will, but without the protections given to people who are formally detained under the Mental Health Act.
- From 1st October 2007 : making a small change to the rules about eligibility for help from independent mental capacity advocates under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, so that a few people who would otherwise have been excluded will now be covered.