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