"approved home" means a home selected and approved under the regulations made under this Act;
"court" means the Supreme Court;
"director" means a person who is appointed in charge of a Provincial mental health facility and includes a person authorized by a director to exercise a power or carry out a duty conferred or imposed on the director under this Act;
"father" includes the husband of the mother of a mentally disordered person;
"mentally disordered person" means a mentally retarded or mentally ill person;
"mentally ill person" means a person who is suffering from a disorder of the mind
(a) that seriously impairs the person's ability to react appropriately to his or her environment or to associate with others, and
(b) that requires medical treatment or makes care, supervision and control of the person necessary for the person's protection or for the protection of others;
"mentally retarded person" means a person
(a) in whom there is a condition of arrested or incomplete development of mind, whether arising from inherent causes or induced by disease or injury, that is of a nature or degree that requires or is susceptible to medical treatment or other special care or training, and
(b) who requires care, supervision and control for the person's own protection or for the protection of others;
"mother" includes the wife of the father of a mentally disordered person;
"near relative" means a grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, brother, sister, half brother or half sister and includes the legal guardian of a minor and a committee having custody of the person of a patient under the Patients Property Act;
"observation unit" means a public hospital or a part of it designated by the minister as an observation unit;
"officer in charge of a psychiatric unit" includes a person authorized by the officer to exercise a power or carry out a duty conferred or imposed on the officer under this Act;
"patient" means a person who, under this Act,
(a) is receiving psychiatric care and treatment, or
(b) is received, detained or taken charge of as a mentally disordered person or as an allegedly mentally disordered person;
"physician" means a medical practitioner;
"private mental hospital" means an establishment licensed under section 5;
"Provincial mental health facility" means a Provincial mental health facility designated under this Act;
"psychiatric unit" means a public hospital or a part of it designated by the minister as a psychiatric unit;
"public hospital" means an institution designated as a hospital under section 1 of the Hospital Act;
"resident of British Columbia" means a person who has resided in British Columbia for a period determined by the Lieutenant Governor in Council;
"society" means a society incorporated or registered under the Society Act to establish or operate facilities or services designed for the mental welfare of residents of British Columbia.
2 The Lieutenant Governor in Council may establish and maintain facilities and services for the examination, diagnosis and treatment of mentally disordered persons and the rehabilitation of patients and for that purpose may, by order, authorize the minister, for the government, to acquire, manage and operate property.
3 (1) The minister may designate a building or premises as a Provincial mental health facility.
(2) The minister may designate a public hospital or a part of it, not being a Provincial mental health facility, as an observation unit or a psychiatric unit.
4 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may by order transfer a Provincial mental health facility or service or a part of it to a society.
(2) An order under subsection (1) must designate the following:
(a) the conditions of the transfer of the property that constitutes the Provincial mental health facility or service or part of it;
(b) the number of persons who are to be appointed to the board of management of the society by the Lieutenant Governor in Council;
(c) the requirements of inspection.
(3) An order under subsection (1) must give any necessary direction for the transfer of officers and employees who are public servants under the Public Service Act from the Provincial mental health facility to the society.
(4) An order under subsection (1) may direct that, despite the transfer, the officers and employees continue in the public service of British Columbia.
5 (1) On application, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may license as a private mental health facility
(a) any private hospital licensed under the Hospital Act, and
(b) any community care facility licensed under the Community Care Facility Act.
(2) A person must not receive a mentally disordered person into or cause or permit a mentally disordered person to remain in a private house for gain or payment, unless the house is licensed under subsection (1).
6 Subject to sections 12 and 18, every resident of British Columbia is entitled to receive service and accommodation in the facilities provided under this Act in accordance with this Act and its regulations.
7 For each Provincial mental health facility, a director, medical officers and other staff required may be appointed under the Public Service Act.
8 (1) A director must ensure that
(a) each patient in a Provincial mental health facility is provided with professional service, care and treatment appropriate to the patient's condition and appropriate to the function of the Provincial mental health facility and, for those purposes, a director may sign consent to treatment forms for a person admitted under section 22, 27, 28, 29, 30 or 42,
(b) standards appropriate to the function of the Provincial mental health facility are established and maintained, and
(c) the orders and directives of the minister are observed and performed.
(2) Subsection (1) (a) and (b) applies
(a) to a person appointed under the regulations as an officer in charge of a psychiatric unit, and
(b) to a psychiatric unit.
9 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may prescribe daily charges for care, treatment and maintenance provided in a Provincial mental health facility.
(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may by regulation exempt a class of patient from the prescribed daily charges.
10 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may appoint an assessment committee, consisting of 3 members, who hold office during pleasure and without remuneration.
(2) The assessment committee may prospectively or retrospectively reduce or cancel charges for the care, treatment and maintenance of a patient.
11 (1) A guardian, committee or other person liable for payment for a patient's care, treatment or maintenance must, on demand from the director of a Provincial mental health facility in which the patient is or has been receiving care, treatment or maintenance, make payments to the director in accordance with the rates set under this Act.
(2) The director may demand from a guardian, committee or other person liable to pay for a patient's care, treatment or maintenance any sum due at any time and may in default of payment sue on behalf of the government for the recovery of the sum in a court of competent jurisdiction.
(3) An action under this section must be taken in the name of the director.
12 The director of every Provincial mental health facility must ensure that no mentally disordered person is admitted into any Provincial mental health facility from a penitentiary, prison, jail, reformatory or institution under the jurisdiction and administration of Canada unless the government of Canada, by or through an officer having authority to act on its behalf, undertakes to pay all charges for care, treatment and maintenance of that person.
13 With the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, the minister may, on behalf of the government, enter into or cancel a reciprocal arrangement with the government of any other province of Canada for the assumption of all or part of the charges incurred by a resident of one province hospitalized in a public mental hospital or provincial mental health facility in another.
14 The Lieutenant Governor in Council may, on behalf of the government, enter into or cancel an agreement with Canada for the sharing of costs of care and treatment of mentally disordered persons.
15 A person who is being transported to a Provincial mental health facility for admission and who is not detained or being transported under the Criminal Code or under section 29 must be kept separate from any person who is detained or being transported under the Criminal Code or under section 29.
16 A person is not liable in damages as the result of doing any of the following in good faith and with reasonable care:
(a) signing an application or laying an information;
(b) requesting that a person be admitted to, or admitted to and detained in, a Provincial mental health facility or a psychiatric unit;
(c) signing a medical certificate or making a report if the person is a physician;
(d) signing an order if the person is a judge;
(e) issuing a warrant if the person is a justice;
(f) transporting or taking charge of a person on the authority of properly completed
(i) applications and medical certificates, or
(ii) medical certificates;
(g) making a determination under section 25 (1) as a member of a review panel.
17 (1) A person commits an offence punishable under the Offence Act who
(a) assists a patient to leave or to attempt to leave a Provincial mental health facility without proper authority,
(b) does or omits to do an act to assist a patient in leaving or attempting to leave a Provincial mental health facility without proper authority, or
(c) incites or counsels a patient to leave a Provincial mental health facility without proper authority.
(2) A person employed in a Provincial mental health facility or a private mental hospital, or any other person having charge of a patient, who ill treats, assaults or wilfully neglects a patient commits an offence punishable under the Offence Act.
18 Despite anything in this Act, a director or person who has authority to admit persons to a Provincial mental health facility must not admit a person to a Provincial mental health facility if
(a) suitable accommodation is not available within the Provincial mental health facility for the care, treatment and maintenance of the patient, or
(b) in the opinion of the director or person who has authority to admit persons to the Provincial mental health facility, the person is not a mentally disordered person or is a person who, because of the nature of his or her mental disorder, could not be cared for or treated appropriately in the facility.
19 The person who requests or applies for the admission of a female person to a Provincial mental health facility must arrange for her to be accompanied by a near relative or a female person between the time of the request or application and her admission to a Provincial mental health facility.
20 (1) The director of a Provincial mental health facility may admit any person to, and detain him or her in, the Provincial mental health facility
(a) if the person
(i) has reached 16 years of age and requests admission, or
(ii) is under 16 years of age and a parent or guardian or, if a parent or appointed guardian is not available, the person's nearest relative requests that the person be admitted, and
(b) if the director is satisfied that the person has been examined by a physician who is of the opinion that the person is a mentally disordered person.
(2) A patient admitted under this section who is under 16 years of age must, unless discharged from the Provincial mental health facility, be examined at the following times by a physician authorized for the purpose by the director of the facility:
(a) within each of the first 2 months following the date the patient was admitted to the facility;
(b) within 3 months of the second examination required by paragraph (a);
(c) within 6 months of the examination required by paragraph (b);
(d) within each successive 6 month period following the examination required by paragraph (c).
(3) If the physician who examines a patient under subsection (2) is of the opinion that the patient is not a mentally disordered person, the director must discharge the patient.
(4) If the physician who examines a patient under subsection (2) is of the opinion that the patient is a mentally disordered person, the physician must record a written report of the examination and include in it the reasons for the opinion.
(5) A nurse in charge of a ward in a Provincial mental health facility must
(a) ensure that each patient in the ward who was admitted under this section is enabled to communicate without delay to the director of the facility any desire that the patient may form to leave the facility, and,
(b) on learning that a patient in the ward who was admitted under this section desires to leave the facility, promptly notify the director of the facility of that desire.
(6) A patient admitted under this section must be discharged by the director
(a) if the patient has reached age 16 and the director is notified in any manner that the patient desires to be discharged,
(b) if the patient is under age 16 and the director is notified in any manner that a person who is entitled under subsection (1) (a) (ii) to apply to have the patient admitted requests that the patient be discharged, or
(c) if the patient is under age 16 and the director is notified by a physician, authorized by the director for the purpose of this section, that the patient has been examined by the physician and found to not be a mentally disordered person.
(7) Subsections (5) and (6) do not apply if the requirements for detention of the patient under section 22 have been fulfilled.
(8) A person who has reached age 16 and who has been admitted to a Provincial mental health facility has, despite any rule of law relating to minors, the capacity to make the request and an agreement for payment for maintenance and treatment in the facility and to authorize the person's treatment in the facility.
21 (1) If a patient admitted to a Provincial mental health facility under section 20 (1) (a) (ii) desires to leave the facility and is under age 16, section 25 applies as though the patient had been admitted under section 22 if
(a) the patient requests the discharge, and
(b) no person entitled to apply under section 20 (1) (a) (ii) for the patient's admission requests the discharge under section 20 (6) (b).
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) (b), the director must discharge the patient if the patient is found not to be a mentally disordered person.
22 (1) On receiving 2 medical certificates completed by 2 physicians in accordance with subsection (2), the director of a Provincial mental health facility may admit a person to the facility and detain the person in it.
(2) Each medical certificate must be completed and signed by a physician who is not disqualified under subsection (3) and who has examined the person whose admission is requested not more than 14 days before the date of admission and must set out
(a) a statement by the physician that he or she has examined the person whose admission is requested on the date or dates set out and is of the opinion that the person is a mentally disordered person,
(b) in summary form the reasons for the opinion, and
(c) in addition to the statement required under paragraph (a), a separate statement by the physician that he or she is of the opinion that the person whose admission is requested
(i) requires medical treatment in a Provincial mental health facility, and
(ii) requires care, supervision and control in a Provincial mental health facility for the person's own protection or for the protection of others.
(3) A physician is disqualified from giving a valid medical certificate under this section if the physician is
(a) the person whose admission is requested,
(b) engaged in the practice of medicine in partnership with the physician who completes the other certificate, or
(c) a person employed as an assistant by a physician who completes either of the medical certificates in respect of the person whose admission is requested.
(4) A medical certificate given under this section becomes invalid on the 15th clear day after the date on which the physician examined the person who is the subject of the certificate.
(5) The 2 certificates completed as required under this section are sufficient authority for a person to apprehend and transport the person named in the statement made under subsection (2) (a) to a Provincial mental health facility.
23 A patient admitted under section 22 may be detained in a Provincial mental health facility for one month after the date of the admission, and the patient must be discharged at the end of that month unless the authority for the detention is renewed in accordance with section 24.
24 (1) Unless the patient has previously been discharged, authority for the detention of a patient may be renewed under this section as follows:
(a) from the end of the period referred to in section 23 for a further period of one month;
(b) from the end of any period of renewal under paragraph (a) for a further period of 3 months;
(c) from the end of any period of renewal under paragraph (b) for a further period, or further successive periods, of 6 months.
(a) every one month period referred to in section 23,
(b) every further one month period referred to in subsection (1) (a), and
(c) the last month of every 3 month or 6 month period referred to in subsection (1) (b) or (c),
the director of the Provincial mental health facility or a physician authorized by the director must examine the patient who has been detained in the facility and either discharge the patient or record a written report of the examination and include in it the reasons of the director or physician for concluding that the detention of the patient should be renewed.
(3) The written report referred to in subsection (2) is a renewal of the authority for the detention of the patient referred to in that subsection.
25 (1) A person admitted to a Provincial mental health facility under section 22 is entitled, at the request of the person or of another person, to a hearing by a review panel
(a) within a prescribed time after the commencement of a one month period, or further one month period, referred to in section 23 or in section 24 (1) (a),
(b) within a prescribed time after the commencement of a 3 month period referred to in section 24 (1) (b), or
(c) during any 6 month period referred to in section 24 (1) (c), within a prescribed time after 90 days after the conclusion of any previous hearing.
(2) The purpose of a hearing under subsection (1) is to determine whether the patient should continue to be detained in the Provincial mental health facility.
(3) A chair appointed under subsection (7) may shorten the time period in sub-section (1) (c) if
(a) the chair considers it to be in the best interests of the patient, or
(b) new information relative to the patient's detention has become available.
(4) A patient must not be discharged until the results of the hearing are made known to the patient and then only if the results of the hearing indicate that the patient should be discharged.
(5) For the purposes of a hearing under subsection (1), a review panel consists of the following persons:
(b) a physician who is appointed by the Provincial mental health facility to which the patient is admitted;
(c) a person, other than the patient or a member of the patient's family, who is appointed by the patient.
(6) If the patient does not appoint a person under subsection (5) (c), the director of the Provincial mental health facility to which the patient is admitted may appoint a person who, in the director's opinion, has knowledge of the circumstances of the patient.
(7) The minister must appoint one or more persons as chair under subsection (5) (a) for the purpose of
(a) conducting hearings as and when they may be required under subsection (1), and
(b) making decisions as and when they may be required under subsection (3).
(8) The minister may reimburse a person appointed under subsection (5), (6) or (7) for reasonable travelling or out of pocket expenses necessarily incurred by the person in discharging duties under this section, and, in addition, may pay the person the remuneration for the person's services the minister may determine.
26 (1) Section 22 applies to a person's admission to and detention in a psychiatric unit.
(2) Section 22 (5) applies to the apprehension and transportation of a person to a psychiatric unit.
(3) Sections 20, 23, 24, 25, 31, 32, 34 to 37, 39 and 41 apply to a psychiatric unit and a patient in a psychiatric unit and a reference in those sections to "director" includes an officer in charge of a psychiatric unit.
(a) a physician has examined a person and completed one of the 2 medical certificates required under section 22, and
(b) there is no other physician practising in the vicinity or within a reasonable distance of the place where the person resides who can examine the person and is qualified to give a second medical certificate, the completed certificate, endorsed by the physician who gave it with a statement in the terms of paragraph (b), is sufficient authority for a person to apprehend and transport the person named in the certificate to a Provincial mental health facility or a psychiatric unit and for the person's admission to and detention in the facility or unit and for examination and psychiatric treatment for a period that must not, unless the detention becomes otherwise authorized, exceed 72 hours.
28 (1) If a police officer or constable is satisfied from his or her own observations or from information received by him or her that a person
(a) is acting in a manner likely to endanger his or her own safety or that of others, and
(b) is apparently suffering from mental disorder,
he or she may take the person into custody and take the person immediately to a physician.
(2) If the physician is satisfied that the person is a mentally disordered person and in need of care, supervision or control for the person's own protection or for the protection of others, the person may be taken, on the certificate of the physician, to a Provincial mental health facility, a psychiatric unit or an observation unit; otherwise the person must be released.
(3) Anyone who appears to have good reason to believe that a person is a mentally disordered person and dangerous to be at large may apply to a Provincial Court judge or, if no judge is available, to a justice.
(4) If satisfied that the procedures for the admission of the person to a Provincial mental health facility or psychiatric unit or for transporting the person there for examination cannot be used without dangerous delay, the judge or justice may issue a warrant in Form A in the Schedule.
(5) A warrant issued under subsection (4) is authority for the apprehension of the person concerned and for the person's transportation and admission to and psychiatric treatment in a Provincial mental health facility, a psychiatric unit or an observation unit.
(6) The director of a Provincial mental health facility or the officer in charge of a psychiatric unit or an observation unit may
(a) admit a person in respect of whom the director or officer is satisfied a certificate has been issued under subsection (2) or a warrant has been issued under subsection (4), and
(b) detain, examine and treat the person for his or her condition in the facility or unit for a period that must not, unless the detention becomes otherwise authorized, exceed 72 hours.
29 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council, on receiving 2 medical certificates completed in accordance with section 22 concerning the mental condition of a person imprisoned or detained in a correctional centre or youth containment centre under the Correction Act or a prison or lockup operated by a police force, may order the removal of the person to a Provincial mental health facility.
(2) When an order is made under subsection (1), the person in charge of the correctional centre, youth containment centre, prison or lockup must, in accordance with the order, cause the person to be transported to the Provincial mental health facility named in the order and send to the director of the Provincial mental health facility copies of the medical certificates.
(3) A person transported to a Provincial mental health facility under subsection (2) must be detained in that or any other Provincial mental health facility the Lieutenant Governor in Council may order until the person's complete or partial recovery or until other circumstances justifying the person's discharge from the Provincial mental health facility are certified to the satisfaction of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, who may then order the person
(a) back to imprisonment or detention if then liable to imprisonment or detention, or
(b) to be discharged.
(4) On receiving 2 medical certificates in accordance with section 22 concerning the mental condition of a person imprisoned or detained in a correctional centre, a youth containment centre under the Correction Act or a prison or lockup operated by a police force, the person in charge of the correctional centre, youth containment centre, prison or lockup may authorize the transfer of the person to a Provincial mental health facility.
(5) The director of a Provincial mental health facility may admit to the facility the person authorized to be transferred under subsection (4) if the director receives copies of the 2 medical certificates from the person in charge of the correctional centre, youth containment centre, prison or lockup.
(6) A person who is authorized to be transferred and is admitted under subsection (4) must be detained in the Provincial mental health facility until the person's complete or partial recovery, or until other circumstances justifying the person's discharge from the facility are certified to the satisfaction of the director, who must,
(a) if the person is not liable to further imprisonment or detention, discharge the person, or
(b) if the person is liable to further imprisonment or detention, return the person to the correctional centre, youth containment centre, prison or lockup from which the person was transferred.
(7) If a person is detained in a Provincial mental health facility under subsection (3) or (6), the director may authorize that the person receive care and psychiatric treatment appropriate to the person's condition.
(8) Sections 23 to 25 apply to the detention of a patient admitted under subsection (4) and subsection (6) (a) or (b) applies to a patient who is discharged under sections 23 to 25.
(9) Section 33 (1) to (8) applies to the transfer or admission of a person to a Provincial mental health facility under subsection (4), and subsection (6) (a) or (b) applies to a patient who is discharged under section 33.
30 A person who, under the Criminal Code, is found to have been insane at the time that he or she committed an offence or is found unfit on account of insanity to stand trial, and who is ordered to be detained in a Provincial mental health facility, must receive care and psychiatric treatment appropriate to his or her condition as authorized by the director.
31 If a person is detained in a Provincial mental health facility under section 22, 27, 28, 29, 30 or 42, and even if no order respecting the person has been made under the Patients Property Act, treatment authorized by the director is deemed to be given with the consent of the person.
32 Every patient detained in the Provincial mental health facility is, during detention, subject to the direction and discipline of the director and the members of the staff of the Provincial mental health facility authorized in that behalf by the director.
33 (1) In this section:
"director of a Provincial mental health facility" includes the officer in charge of a psychiatric unit;
"physician" means a physician who is recognized by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia as being a specialist in psychiatry and who would not be disqualified from giving a valid medical certificate under section 22;
"Provincial mental health facility" includes a psychiatric unit.
(2) A person whose admission to a Provincial mental health facility is requested under section 20 (1) (a) (ii) or 22, or a patient or a near relative of the person or patient or anyone who believes that there is not sufficient reason for the admission or detention of the person or patient under this Act, may apply before admission of the person or after the date of admission of the patient to a Provincial mental health facility to the court for
(a) an order prohibiting the admission of the person to a Provincial mental health facility under that request,
(b) an order prohibiting the admission of the person to a Provincial mental health facility under that request or any other request for admission of the person to a Provincial mental health facility made before the date of the order, or
(c) an order that the patient be discharged from the Provincial mental health facility.
(3) Nothing in this section affects the right of a person to apply for a writ of habeas corpus or other prerogative writ.
(4) On hearing an application under subsection (2), the court may review the evidence, including all papers relating to the admission requested or the admission and detention of the patient, and may hear further evidence it considers relevant.
(5) If satisfied that there is or was sufficient reason and authority for the admission of a person or patient to a Provincial mental health facility and for detention in it, the court must order that the person or patient be detained in a Provincial mental health facility for care and treatment.
(6) If not satisfied that there is or was sufficient reason or authority for the admission of the person to a Provincial mental health facility or for the detention of the patient in it, the court may make any of the following orders:
(a) prohibiting anyone from admitting the person to a Provincial mental health facility under the request for admission that gave rise to the application under this section;
(b) prohibiting anyone from admitting the person to a Provincial mental health facility under a request for admission made before the date of the order;
(c) that the patient be discharged from the Provincial mental health facility;
(i) the director of a designated Provincial mental health facility obtain within 10 days a report from a physician, stating whether or not in his or her opinion the person or patient is in fact mentally disordered and consequently requires care and treatment in a Provincial mental health facility, and
(ii) the person, if not detained at the time of the making of the order in a Provincial mental health facility, attend before the physician for examination at a time and place appointed by the director.
(7) On receiving a report made under an order under subsection (6), the court must,
(a) if it is satisfied that the person or patient is mentally disordered and requires care and treatment in a Provincial mental health facility, order that the person or patient be admitted to and detained in or detained in the Provincial mental health facility, or
(b) if it is not satisfied that the person or patient is mentally disordered and requires care and treatment in a Provincial mental health facility, make an order under subsection (6) (a), (b) or (c).
(8) If an order is made under this section for the discharge of a person or patient from a Provincial mental health facility, the director of the Provincial mental health facility must immediately discharge the person or patient.
(9) If, under section 26, a person has been admitted to a psychiatric unit and removed to a Provincial mental health facility, an application made under this section before the person's removal must be continued with the substitution of the appropriate parties and is deemed to include an application in relation to admission and detention in the Provincial mental health facility.
34 (1) Immediately after the admission of a patient to a Provincial mental health facility on request under section 20 (1) (a) (ii) or 22, the director of the facility must send to the patient's next of kin a written notice setting out the patient's rights under sections 21, 23, 24, 25 and 33.
(2) If the director has no information about the identity of the patient's next of kin, subsection (1) is sufficiently complied with if the notice is sent to the Public Trustee.
35 (1) If a transfer to another Provincial mental health facility is considered beneficial to the welfare of a patient, the director of a facility may, by agreement with the director of the other Provincial mental health facility, authorize the transfer and transfer the patient.
(2) Despite subsection (1), a person detained under section 29 may be transferred to another Provincial mental health facility only with the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council or, if the person is detained under section 29 (4) and (5), with the authorization of the person in charge of the correctional centre, youth containment centre, prison or lockup from which the person was transferred.
(3) A director of a Provincial mental health facility to whose facility a patient has been transferred under this section has authority to detain the patient and the time limited by this Act for the doing of any thing runs as if the patient's detention were continuous in one facility.
36 (1) The director of a Provincial mental health facility or the officer in charge of an observation unit may discharge a person from the facility or unit.
(2) An application, request or medical certificate made under this Act is not effective for the purposes of this Act after the discharge of the person with respect to whom the application, request or certificate is made.
(3) If a person is discharged from a Provincial mental health facility or observation unit other than by the operation of section 41 (3), the director of the facility or officer in charge of the observation unit must, on receiving an application by or on behalf of the person, provide the person with a certificate of discharge, signed by the director, in the form prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
37 Subject to section 40, the director of a Provincial mental health facility may release a patient detained in the Provincial mental health facility on leave for designated purposes for stipulated periods of time on the conditions the director may specify to the care of relatives of the patient or others capable of assuming responsibility for the patient's care.
38 (1) Subject to section 40, if the director of a Provincial mental health facility considers it beneficial to a patient, the director may transfer the patient from the Provincial mental health facility to an approved home on conditions the director may specify.
(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations for the selection and approval of approved homes and for the payment of the cost of the maintenance of the patients in them.
39 (1) The release of a patient on leave or the patient's transfer to an approved home under section 37 or 38 (1) does not, of itself, impair the authority for the patient's detention and that authority may be continued, according to the same procedures and to the same extent, as if the patient were detained in a Provincial mental health facility.
(2) Until discharged, a patient who is on leave or has been transferred to an approved home is liable to recall either to the facility from which the patient was released or transferred or, if the transfer is authorized by the director under section 35, to some other facility.
(3) The director of either facility may issue a warrant in Form B in the Schedule for the apprehension of the patient and the patient's transportation to the facility to which the patient is recalled.
(4) Despite subsection (3), if a patient escapes from the custody of a person to whose care the patient has been released on leave or from an approved home, section 41 (3) applies.
40 Except as provided by order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, sections 37 and 38 do not apply to a patient
(a) who was admitted to a Provincial mental health facility under section 29 or under the Criminal Code and remains liable to imprisonment or detention in a jail, prison or training school, or
(b) who is detained in a Provincial mental health facility under the Criminal Code .
41 (1) If a patient involuntarily detained in a Provincial mental health facility leaves the facility without having been discharged under any other section of this Act, the director may, within 60 days after the date on which the patient leaves the facility, issue a warrant in Form B in the Schedule for the apprehension of the patient and the patient's transportation to the Provincial mental health facility and the warrant is authority for the apprehension of the patient and the patient's transportation to the facility.
(2) If a warrant is issued under subsection (1), all peace officers and other persons designated by the director must render any assistance required in the apprehension of the patient or the transportation of the patient to the Provincial mental health facility.
(3) Except as provided in subsection (4), after the end of 60 days from the date the patient leaves the Provincial mental health facility under the circumstances set out in subsection (1), the patient is deemed to have been discharged from the Provincial mental health facility.
(4) If a patient involuntarily detained in a Provincial mental health facility escapes from the facility under the circumstances set out in subsection (1) while charged with an offence or liable to imprisonment or considered by the director to be dangerous to himself or herself or others, even though the period of 60 days has elapsed since the date the patient left the Provincial mental health facility, the director may issue a warrant in Form B in the Schedule for the patient's apprehension and transportation to a Provincial mental health facility and the warrant is authority for the patient's apprehension and transportation to the Provincial mental health facility.
(5) If a person escapes during the course of the person's removal or transfer to a Provincial mental health facility, both the director of the facility to which the person is being removed or transferred and the director or officer in charge of the facility or unit from which the person is removed or transferred have power to issue a warrant under this section.
(6) A patient involuntarily detained in a Provincial mental health facility who leaves the facility, otherwise than on release on leave or transfer, without being discharged may be apprehended for the purpose of returning the patient to the facility, within 48 hours of the patient's escape, even though no warrant has been issued under this section.
(7) A patient who is apprehended under subsection (6) must be transported in custody to the facility from which the patient escaped or to some other facility to which the director has authorized the patient's transfer.
42 If a director or an officer in charge of a psychiatric unit receives a written request from an appropriate mental health authority of another province with respect to a person who, because of being a mentally disordered person, is involuntarily detained in a hospital or mental health facility in that other province, the director or officer may authorize the taking into custody and transportation of the person to the Provincial mental health facility or psychiatric unit and may detain and treat the person for 72 hours, during which time the director or officer must either admit the person to the Provincial mental health facility or psychiatric unit under this Act or release the person.
43 (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations referred to in sec-tion 41 of the Interpretation Act.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations as follows:
(a) prescribing forms;
(b) for the selection, approval and operation of approved homes;
(c) governing the establishment, development, maintenance and management of Provincial mental health facilities for the examination, diagnosis and treatment of mentally disordered persons and the rehabilitation of patients;
(d) governing the reports to be made in respect of, and the protection and custody of, patients detained involuntarily in psychiatric units and observation units;
(e) governing the transfer of patients to and from reciprocating jurisdictions;
(f) concerning the acquisition and management of property under this Act;
(g) for standards for buildings designated as Provincial mental health facilities and for their furnishings and equipment;
(h) concerning the establishment and operation of a mental health clinic or service by a society, the standards of care to be observed in the clinic or in the provision of the service, their inspection and the rates or fees charged by the society;
(i) concerning the licensing of premises as private mental hospitals, the conditions of the licence and the designation of the provisions of this Act that are applicable to private mental hospitals;
(j) concerning follow up and after care services and rehabilitation programs for patients;
(k) governing boarding home care services;
(l) concerning the admission of patients to Provincial mental health facilities or a particular Provincial mental health facility, the care, treatment and maintenance of patients and the discharge of patients;
(m) prescribing rules respecting the conduct of hearings under sections 23 to 25.
[Section 28 (4)]
MENTAL HEALTH ACT
Warrant for Apprehension of a Person Believed to be Mentally Disordered
and Dangerous to be at Large
Province of British Columbia:
To all Peace Officers:
Application has been made to me today by a person who appears to have good reason to believe that . [name of person] is a mentally disordered person and dangerous to be at large.
You are therefore commanded, in Her Majesty's name, to immediately apprehend . [name of person] and to transport that patient to a Provincial mental health facility or an observation unit for admission to it.
Signed and sealed . [month, day, year] , at .
[Sections 39 (3), 41 (1), (4)]
MENTAL HEALTH ACT
Warrant for Apprehension of Patient
Province of British Columbia:
To all Peace Officers:
[Name of person] , who is a patient who is authorized to be detained and has been detained in a Provincial mental health facility, left the Provincial mental health facility without having been discharged.
You are therefore commanded, in Her Majesty's name, to immediately apprehend . [name of person] and to transport that patient to the Provincial mental health facility known as . [name of facility] .
Signed and sealed . [month, day, year] .