TNAG-1733-FCO40-2446-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 120

But one

important

Committee has still

point taken by the Bar

not been satisfactorily resolved.

That relates to the right of a person believed to be

suffering from mental disorder to be heard by a judge or

magistrate when he is detained or before he is detained in

a mental hospital under section 31. As the Bar Committee

put it: "It is important to preserve the civil rights and

freedoms of every individual

this territory

irrespective of his affliction with any particular type of

disability."

in

this year

Indeed, this point has caused great concern to

members of the ad hoc group as well as other Members of

this Council. According to the record of the in-house

meeting held on Friday, 3 June

"some Members.

felt in order to safeguard human rights, it was essential

for a person to be heard by a magistrate or a judge before

he was deprived of his liberty. However, some Members

felt that it might give rise to practical difficulties and

such an additional safeguard could cause delays in

providing timely medical treatment to the patient. After

further deliberation, Members agreed that bearing in mind

possible practical difficulties which the Administration

would have to sort out, the ad hoc group's recommendation

that a person suspected to be a mental patient should be

given the right to

right to be heard before

before being detained in a

mental hospital under section 31 should be supported in

principle."

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