canada legal system

Question 1

Civil Commitment

Answer 1

Confining a person to a mental institution
~Person hasn’t broken law
~Mentally ill
~Danger to self or others

Question 2

Civil commitment procedures:infromal

Answer 2

emergency commitment, if hospitable believes person is dangerous to others
Just enough time to see if formal commitment is to be granted

Question 3

civil commitment:formal

Answer 3

Order of court
Any responsible person can petition court to commit a person
If reasonable to judge, the judge will order person to be confined for 72 hours
Enough time for through mental health evaluation
Court can order person to be confined in mental institution

Question 4

Community(copmulsory) Treatment orders(CTO)

Answer 4

Doesn’t involve confinement in mental institution
Allows person to go back to society with conditions(usually if person in under treatment)
Deprives people of ability to choose treatment or not

Question 5

Freedoms and rights Relevant to mental illness

Answer 5

Protection from arbitrary(forced) detention or imprisonment
Life liberty and personal security
Conscience and religion
Choosing not to take a medication is a matter of conscience
Thought,belief,opinion, and expression
Equal protection without discrimination based on “mental disability”

Question 6

Standard for Civil Commitment
Provinces differ in terms of:

Answer 6

Dangerousness Model
Treatment Model

Question 7

Dangerousness Model

Answer 7

Involuntary hospitalization should be reserved for cases in which the person is at serious risk of physically harming themselves or others
Pros of dangerousness model over treatment model(class discussion): Person not in the right mind to choose their behavior

Question 8

Treatment Model

Answer 8

Involuntary hospitalization should also be used to provide treatment for people who would otherwise by harmed(ie:severe frightening symptoms, serious deterioration) in the absence of treatment
Pros of treatment model: preserving person’s autonomy as much as possible, prevention approach(doesn’t wait until someone harms others or themselves)
Decisional capacity: people should be allowed to make decisions, but what if they cant

Question 9

Prediction of Dangerousness

Answer 9

Actuarial methods best but still weak
We know some data in predicting future reoffending
We know when we make an error, if person is released from prison and then reoffends
In violent offenders, best predictors are PCL-R(psychopathy checklist revised), history of early violence and maladjustment
Schizophrenia is a negative predictor of repeat violence
People with schizophrenia are less likely to commit repeat violence

Question 10

Cognitive impairment

Answer 10

The inability to perceive accurately or reason correctly about the outside world

Question 11

Volitional impairment

Answer 11

inadequate to control your own behavior

Question 12

Law typically defines mental disorder as any impairment of psychological functioning that is internal,stables and involuntary in nature, not situational,contextual, or transitory, and not self induced

Question 13

What are the primary differences between legal and psychological definitions of mental disorder in canada

Answer 13

Clinical definition: focuses on personal distress

Legal definition: neglects if person is distressed
~More objective evaluation
~Law needs consider mental disordered behavior even if not clinically diagnosed

Question 14

Confidentiality

Answer 14

Secret
~nothing said or written will be revealed
~Important for receiving mental health services

Question 15

Privilege

Answer 15

Information and communication between 2 people can not be heard by the court
Ie:court cant demand from the priest what the person confessed on the day of the crime
Client holds the privilege, clients right

Question 16

Limits to confidentiality-duty to warn

Answer 16

Ie: If you talk about engaging in child abuse or homicidal ideation

Question 17

Limits to privilege

Answer 17

Client may sue for malpractice, then they give away their privilege

Question 18

Tarasoff vs. Regents of the University of California(1974,California)

Answer 18

Grad student who was interested in Tarasoff, while she was not
He threatened to buy a gun and kill her
Psychiatrist decided theres not enough evidence for civil commitment
He did kill her
His psychologist where he confessed that he wants to kill her should have warned Tarasoff about wanting to kill her

Question 19

Duty to warn:

Answer 19

psychologist should warn people if they are in danger if their patient confesses to harm someone specific

Question 20

Ahmed vs Stefaniu

Answer 20

Wanted to kill his sister and was admitted
December 3 he has psychotic symptoms and the next day he confessed to a psychiatrist that he was faking his mental disorder
He was released the next day and then killed his sister a few weeks later

Question 21

Smith vs Jones(1999,supreme court of canada)

Answer 21

The Appellant sought to keep secret the professional opinion of the Respondent, a psychologist, whom the former had retained as part of his trial for aggravated assault of a prostitute.

Question 22

Right to Refuse Treatment
Starson v. Swayze(2003)

Answer 22

Wanted to kill a car salesman
Ontario board stated that he doesn’t have the right to refuse treatment
Supreme court ruled that if someone has the capacity to accept treatment they have the right to refuse treatment
Starson was found NCRMD(not criminally responsible on the account of a mental disorder) for uttering death threats in 1998 but refuses treatment
Supreme court ruled that “best treatment” is not relevant to Starson’s legal rights
Can’t force them to go on treatment but must have access to treatment

Question 23

Psychologists in the legal system

Answer 23

People with specialized knowledge
* Expert in something

Clinical or counseling psychologists

Forensic psychologists
* Assist in legal proceedings
* Risk assessment
* Diverse and growing field

Question 24

Ethical codes

Answer 24

broad statements of values that provide guidelines to make decisions

Core values that underlie practice

Implied social contract between psychologists and the public

Question 25

Professional standards/codes of conduct

Answer 25

Expectations regarding day-to-day practice or conduct
Very prescriptive, give psychologists what they should do day to day
Ie:date,signature

Question 26

CPA Code of Ethics

Answer 26

Respect for the dignity of persons
~Around autonomy,dignity to make decisions for themselves

Responsible caring
~Psychologist responsibility to care for client

Integrity in relationships
~Being clear about the limits of confidentiality

Responsibility to society
~ie:duty to warn, civil commitment

Question 27

Criminal Commitment

Answer 27

Confining a pearson to a mental institution
To determine competency to stand trial
After a verdict of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder

Question 28

Facts about NCRMD

Answer 28

Rarely used
Typically successful only in the case of severe mental illness
Generally results in long period of detention that may greatly exceed the otherwise appropriate sentence
Although indigenous people are over represented in criminal justice system, their representation among NCRMD cases mirrors population demographics

Question 29

National Trajectory Project

Answer 29

NCRMD used in 1.8/1000 criminal cases
72% of accused had at least one prior psychiatric hospitalization

Most common offences:
assault/threats (54% of cases)
murder/ attempted murder/sexual offences(<10% of cases)

Most common victims:77% were professionals(first responders,mental health professionals) or family members of accused

Question 30

criminal responsibility

Answer 30

Ability to know an act is wrong
~Legally
~Morally
~Intellectual ability to know right from wrong

Ability to apply that knowledge

Question 31

1700’s Britain:”Wild beast” test

Answer 31

If a defendant was so out of touch with reality that they understood the ramifications of their behavior no more than an infant or wild beast, then they would not be held responsible for their crime

Question 32

1800:R.v.Hadfield

Answer 32

Hadfield fired a shot in the direction of King george III in an effort to spark the second coming of christ
Found to be mentally ill and sent to prison
Parliament changes developing criminal commitment
Allowed people to be sent to mental institutions instead of the two options of jail or to be sent free
Recognized that jail and being sent free were not appropriate responses to mental illness
British parliament enacted the criminal lunatics acts

Question 33

1843:R.v.M’Naghten

Answer 33

M’Nagthen tried to assassinate the british PM but instead killed Edward Drummond (PM’S private secretary)
Psychotic beliefs about PM motivated the crime
House of Lords new Rule:
~“Insanity defence”= defendant was mentally ill such that they could not tell that their actions were wrong at the time they committed them

Question 34

Policeman at the Elbow Test

Answer 34

M’Naghten rule fails to account for the issues of control
Irresistible impulse
Would the accused have committed the crime even if a police officer had been standing at their elbow

Question 35

R.v.Swain (1991)

Answer 35

Swain assaulted his wife and children in an effort to save them from the devil
He recovered with meds and lived peacefully in community until his trial more than a year later
Found NGRI(Not guilty reason of insanity) and taken into custody
Although he wasn’t harming others he still got take into custody
So he sued
Supreme court:need to set rules about review of accused’s mental status-cannot hold someone indefinitely
Needs rules to evaluate the recovery of someone mental illness
Just because they were insane at the time of crime, they are not permanently insane

Question 36

Bill C-30

Answer 36

Parliament’s response to R.v.Swain
NGRI changed to NCRMD(Not criminally responsible)
Established provincial review boards to assess accused within 45 days of verdict and at least annually thereafter
Person can be detained or discharged (with or without conditions)

Question 37

Fitness to stand trial

Answer 37

Symptoms and state of mind of person at the time of trial
Fit to stand trial=physically and mentally competent
1)Does the person understand the nature and purpose of the legal proceedings?
~Do they know why they are being tried and purpose of being tried
2)Does the person understand the potential consequences of proceedings?
3)Is the person capable of communicating with their lawyer (participating in their defense)

Question 38

Under what circumstance could Mr.Schoenbrun have been judged competent to stand trial and yet NCRMD for the murders

Answer 38

He was mentally ill at the time of murders but has recovered at the time of trial
As long as they dont have severe psychosis and they understand the fitness to stand trial criteria, he is capable of standing trial

Question 39

Under what circumstance could he have been judged criminally responsible for the killings yet not competent to stand trial

Answer 39

He did plan to kill his children but at the time of trial he is consumed with grief, or overwhelmed to not be able to stand trial