In due course the Mental Health Act 2025 will further amend the 1983 Act.

The Act covers England and Wales only. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own Mental Health Acts.

The Mental Health Act defines the circumstances in which it is lawful to detain a person in hospital against their will due to their mental health. This is a very great power and responsibility, and the Act makes clear that it should only be used as a last resort, ie when there is no other reasonable option. the Act also says that any detention in hospital must be for the shortest time possible.

The term “sectioning” really describes the process by which an individual is assessed under the Mental Health Act to determine whether s/he does indeed need to be compulsorily detained in hospital. The term comes from the different sections of the Act itself which apply to different situations. For example Section 2 of the Act allows for the individual to be detained for up to 28 days for assessment, whereas Section 3 allows for the individual to be detained for up to 6 months for treatment.

USEFUL LINKS

• Here’s a summary of the 2025 Act from Rethink
• In January 2021 a much anticipated independent review of the Mental Health Act in England & Wales was published. Click here for details. 
• Click here for the Code of Practice (England)
• Click here for the Code of Practice (Wales)
• Click here to learn about the Mental Health (Care & Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003
• Northern Ireland is in something of a limbo state at present. The Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) received the Royal Assent in May 2016. Its purpose is to combine the Mental Health Act and the Mental Capacity Act into one single piece of legislation, which is a bit of a ground-breaking idea. However, the absence of a fully functioning Assembly in Northern Ireland means that the implementation date of this new Act is currently unclear. Until the new legislation takes effect, the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 remains the relevant piece of legislation in relation to mental health issues. 

COURT RULINGS

Here are some court rulings that may be of interest …

• Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust v HJ [2023] EWFC 92

A 64 year old woman who was detained under S3 of the Mental Health Act needed treatment for a physical condition (bowel disease)

• MC v Cygnet Behavioural Health Ltd & SoS for Justice [2020] UKUT 230 (AAC)

Mental health patient who needed conditions on her discharge to ensure the safety of others

• JK v A Local Health Board [2019] EWHC 67 (Fam)

“Force-feeding” under the Mental Health Act

• Welsh Ministers v PJ [2018] UKSC 66

Can a CTO under the Mental Health Act authorise a deprivation of liberty in the community?

• SoS for Justice v MM [2018] UKSC 60

Whether a patient who is conditionally discharged from detention under the Mental Health Act can consent to conditions that are so restrictive that they actually amount to a deprivation of his liberty.

• A Primary Care Trust v LDV [2013] EWHC 272 (Fam)

Also looking at the MHA/MCA interface, this was a woman who had been an in-patient at Winterbourne View

• AM v SLAM [2013] UKUT 0365 (AAC)

This looks at the interface between the Mental Health Act 1983 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005

• GJ v Foundation Trust [2009] EWHC 2972 (Fam)

Is a person eligible for detention under DoLS or the Mental Health Act?

• R(B) v Ashworth Hospital Authority [2005] UKHL 20

Can you be treated for any mental disorder under the Mental Health Act, or only the mental disorder for which you have been detained?

• R v Collins & Ashworth Hospital ex p Brady [2000] EWHC 639 (Admin)

Could the “Moors Murderer” Ian Brady be force fed under the Mental Health? He claimed he couldn’t, because he was making a rational decision to refuse food.

• B v Croydon HA [1995] Fam 133

What kind of “treatment” can be given under the Mental Health Act?