Review of the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act 1997: Consultation Paper

Guide to this consultation paper

The CMIA canvasses a wide range of issues. Some of the issues are conceptual and legal in nature, while other issues are about process and procedures.

Chapter 1 contains introductory information about the Commission’s approach to the reference and consultation processes. Chapter 2 contains an overview of the CMIA legislation, background (including the Governor’s pleasure regime and previous reviews of the CMIA) and the CMIA’s underlying principles. Chapter 3 contains a contextual examination of people with mental conditions in the criminal justice system and the pathway followed by people subject to the CMIA.

The laws regarding unfitness to stand trial in Chapter 4 and the mental impairment defence in Chapter 5 are technical areas that raise complex issues of law. These chapters also cover issues regarding the process for determining unfitness to stand trial and establishing the defence of mental impairment. Chapter 6 looks at a very specific policy issue: whether there should be a further expansion of the CMIA to the Magistrates’ Court. Chapters 7–9 focus on the provisions governing the making of orders, leave, supervision and review and the representation of various interests across these areas of operation. Chapters 7 and 8 are focused entirely on discrete processes, while Chapter 9 looks at systemic issues that apply to the system of supervision and review as a whole.