A228
Ord. No. 46/88
Amendment of section 72.
Mentally disordered
persons found in need of care or control.
(Cap. 232.)
MENTAL HEALTH (AMENDMENT)
(b) is in need of care or control and, in his own interests or for the protection of other persons, may need to be taken to a place of safety,
the magistrate may issue a warrant authorizing any police officer or other person named in the warrant to enter any premises specified in the warrant in which that person is believed to be, and, if thought fit, to remove him to a place of safety.
(3) In the execution of a warrant issued under subsec- tion (1) or (2) the person named in the warrant---
(a) shall, unless he is an approved social worker or a community psychiatric nurse, be accompanied by an approved social worker or by a community psychiatric nurse; and
(b) may use such reasonable force as may be necessary
to enter the premises and remove the patient.
(4) In this section, a "place of safety" means the ac- cident and emergency department of any general hospital.
71B. (1) If a police officer finds in any place a person whom he reasonably believes to be suffering from mental disorder and to be in immediate need of care or control, the officer may, notwithstanding the provisions of section 51 of the Police Force Ordinance, take that person into custody and remove him forthwith to a place of safety if the officer thinks it necessary to do so in the interests of that person or for the protection of other persons.
(2) A person who is in, or is removed under this section to, a place of safety may be detained there for a period not exceeding 24 hours for the purpose of enabling him to be examined by a registered medical practitioner and of making necessary arrangements for his treatment and care.
(3) Such force as is reasonably necessary may be used for the purposes of taking a person into custody and remov- ing him to a place of safety, and for detaining him there, under this section.
(4) In this section a "place of safety" means the accident and emergency department of any general hospital.
(5) Nothing in subsection (1) shall confer upon any police officer a right to enter upon any premises.".
31. Section 72 of the principal Ordinance is amended-
in subsection (1)—
(a)
(i) in paragraph (f) by deleting "and" at the end thereof; (ii) by deleting paragraph (g) and substituting the following
"(g) regulating the exercise by guardians of patients received into guardianship under Part III and their powers as such;