2
13
4
to appear in Court, and steps are not taken to produce him
unless the Medical Superintendent of the asylum or mental
hospital is of opinion that he is fit to appear. If not
produced he remains a "criminal lunatic" under the Secretary of State's control since the prisoner's committal is "until
delivered by due course of law.
#
The position of a prisoner on remand is different and
there is ordinarily little advantage in his removal to a
mental hospital as a "criminal lunatic" by warrant of the
Secretary of State. The order of the Court authorises the
prisoner's detention in prison only for a comparatively few
days and until a specified date. On the expiration of the
remand period the authority for his detention in prison lapses
and he thereupon ceases to be a "criminal lunatic." He is
no longer under the Secretary of State's control and his
future detention is dependent on the operation of the Lunacy
Acts.
There is no provision in English law authorising the
removal of a prisoner to an asylum or mental hospital on the
ground that he is likely to become insane: and in this country
a person who has not been certified insane cannot be received
into a mental hospital except as a purely voluntary patient.
In Sir John Gilmour's view the provision in the Ordinance would
be open to objection in this country as involving the removal of
a sane prisoner to a mental hospital in pursuance of an order.
The Ordinances enclosed with your letter are returned
herewith.
In Castei
? new so Le filve
I am, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
CDC Robinson