• Section 122B(4): “If force has been used under this section, – (a) the
circumstances in which the force was used must be recorded as soon as
practicable; and (b) a copy of the record must be given to the Director of Area
Mental Health Services as soon as practicable.”
• In November 2018, the Government Inquiry into mental health and addiction,
published the He Ara Oranga Report which recommended that the Mental Health
Act be repealed and replaced to “reflect a human rights based approach, align
with modern models for mental health care and minimise the use of compulsion,
seclusion and restraint.”
Intellectual Disability (Compulsory Care and Rehabilitation) Act 2003
(IDCCR Act)
• The IDCCR Act, similar to the Mental Health Act, provides the state with
powers to deprive people with an intellectual disability of their liberty in
certain circumstances where they have been charged with, or convicted of,
an imprisonable offence.
• Section 60(1) defines seclusion as: “placing of the care recipient without others
in a room or other area that provides a safe environment for the care recipient
throughout the care recipient’s stay in the room or area but does not allow the
care recipient to leave without help.”
• Section 60(2): “A care recipient may be placed in seclusion to prevent them
from “endangering the health or safety of the care recipient or of others”
and/or “seriously compromising the care and well-being of other persons.”
• Section 60(3)(a): “A person who places a care recipient in seclusion – must
ensure that the care recipient is not placed in seclusion for longer than is
necessary to achieve the purpose of placing the care recipient in seclusion.”
• Section 61(1): Care recipients may be restrained to prevent them from
“endangering the health or safety of the care recipient or of others” and/or
“seriously damaging property” and/or “seriously compromising the care and
well-being of the care recipient or of other care recipients.”
• Section 61(2): “A care recipient may not be restrained under subsection (1) by
the application of a mechanical restraint if – (a) 1 or more authorised individuals
can personally restrain the care recipient to achieve the purpose for which the
care recipient is to be restrained; and (b) it is reasonably practicable for those
individuals to do so.”
• Section 61(3): When a care recipient is restrained the following conditions apply:
˚˚ “(a) a person exercising the power of restraint may not use a greater degree of
force, and may not restrain the care recipient for longer, than is required to
achieve the purpose for which the care recipient is restrained.
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