(Cap. 227).
Removal of prisoners for observation.
Medical
reparts on persoas on remand.
(Cap. 227).
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(4) When a transfer order has been made in respect of a person remanded in custody by a magistrate, the power of further remanding such person under section 20 of the Magistrates Ordinance may be exercised by the magistrate without such person being brought before the magistrate.
(5) Any transfer order made in respect of a civil prisoner shall cease to have effect on the expiration of the period during which be would but for his removal to the mental hospital, be liable to be detained in prison.
55. (1) If the Commissioner of Prisons or, in the case of a person who is detained in a remand home or a reformatory school, the Director of Social Welfare, has reason to believe that a person who is serving a sentence of imprisonment as defined by subsection (5) of section 52 or a person to whom section 53 applies is a mentally disordered person and that it is accessary or desirable that such person should be forthwith transferred to a mental hospital for observation or treatment, he may, by writing under his hand, order that such person be taken to a mental hospital for the purpose of detention, observation and treatment during the period of seven days from and including the date of the order.
(2) The provisions of sections 51, 52 and 53 may be applied to a person who is detained in a mental hospital in consequence of an order made under subsection (1) as if no such order had been made.
(3) A person who is detained in a mental hospital in consequence of an order made under subsection (1) shall be deemed to be in legal custody.
56. (1) If a person is committed in custody for trial in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) of section 84 of the Magistrates Ordinance, the Commissioner of Prisons---
(a) if the prisoner is charged with a capital offence, may; and (b) if the Attorney General makes application in writing to the Commissioner of Prisons in respect of the prisoner, whether the prisoner is charged with a capital offence or not, shall, make an order in accordance with the provisions of subsection (1) of section 55. even if the Commissioner of Prisons has no reason to believe that the prisoner is a mentally disordered person.
(2) If the prisoner has been committed in custody for trial charged with a capital offence or if he is the subject of an application by the Attorney General in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (7) of subsection (1), the medical officer of the prison of the medical superintendent of the mental hospital, as the case may be, shall, not less than seven days before the date fixed for the trial of the prisoner, submit to the Registrar and to the Attorney General a report on the
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mental condition of the prisoner, stating whether or not the prisoner bas exhibited any indication of insanity and whether or not he is fit to plead.
(3) A report submitted in accordance with the provisions of sub- section (2) shall not express any opinion as to the degree of respon- sibility of the prisoner at the time when the offence with which he is charged was committed but if. from symptoms exhibited white under observation in the prison or in the mental hospital, the medical officer of the prison or the medical superintendent of the mental hospital, as the case may be, is of the opinion that insanity exists and has done so for some time previous to the date when the offence was committed, or that there is any history of insanity, his report should embody this opinion.
57. (1) The Governor may by warrant direct that any person, Persona who by virtue of subsection (1) of section 78 of the Criminal Procedure ordered
to be kept Ordinance is ordered to be detained in safe custody until Her Majesty's
în custody pleasure shall be known, shall be removed to and detained in such during fler
Majesty'a mental hospital as may be specified in the warrant.
pleasure.
(2) A warrant under this section shall have a like effect as a (Cap. 221). hospital order and on the admission to the mental hospital of the person named in the warrant, the provisions of this Ordinance relating to hospital orders shall apply accordingly.
(3) If the Governor is satisfied by a report from a medical super- intendent that a person detained in the mental hospital in accordanou with a warrant under subsection (1) other than a person who was found guilty but insane in accordance with the provisions of section 77 of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance, no longer requires treatment for mental disorder, the Governor may by order remit that person to prison for trial before the court before which, but for the warrant, he would bave been tried.
PART V.
General Provisions.
58. Nothing in this Part of this Ordinance shall interfere with or Saving of derogate from the power vested in the Court by Part II of this Ordin- powers. ance over any person found to be a mentally disordered person.
59. (1) If after the reception of any patient into a mental hos- Amendment pital it appears that the order or the medical certificate upon which of orders. he was received is defective or incorrect, the same way at any time afterwards be amended, with the sanction of the medical superintendent, by the person or persons signing the same.
(2) An amendment made under this section shall be effective as from the date of the reception.