Dialogue Volume 10 Issue 2 2014 | Page 15

COUNCIL AWARD Q: Why do we need mental health courts? A: You have a court with lawyers and crown attorneys who have a familiarity with and interest in mental health issues so they help make the experience less intimidating for people with mental health issues. You’re trying to deal with people who wouldn’t be in the criminal justice system if it wasn’t for their mental illness – and that’s quite a lot of people. There are various formal ways to deal with people with mental health issues under the Criminal Code but there are also a lot of informal ways to encourage people to get back into treatment or help get the right treatment and in return give them a better legal outcome. Obviously that’s important for the person and their mental health but it’s also important for society – if you can get someone back into treatment who was only in trouble because of mental health issues, then they are much less likely to reoffend. Q: Do you have success stories from this court? A: One of the cases that stand out was a woman who had been on the streets for many years. She had bipolar disorder and was charged with assault and uttering threats. The mental health court decided that she was a not criminally responsible patient. She went into