Substance Addiction (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 2017

Assessment and treatment of persons suffering from severe substance addiction - Rights of patients - Limits on right to receive and send mail and electronic communications

62: Approval required to check and withhold mail and electronic communications

You could also call this:

"Someone needs permission to read or stop your letters and emails."

Illustration for Substance Addiction (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 2017

If you are a patient, someone might want to check and stop your mail and electronic communications. They need to get approval from the Area Director first. The Area Director is in charge of making sure this happens correctly.

When the Area Director is deciding whether to approve taking away a patient's computer or device, they must make sure the patient can still communicate with their lawyer and certain other people. The Area Director needs to be satisfied that the patient has a good way to receive and send electronic communications to these people. This is so the patient can still talk to the people they need to, like their lawyer.

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This page was last updated on 14 August 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6609210.

Topics:

Health and wellbeing > Mental healthCrime and justice > Courts and legal help

61: Checking and withholding mail and electronic communications, or

"Staff can check and control your mail and messages at a treatment centre to keep you and others safe."

63: Mail and electronic communications not to be withheld if sent by or to certain people, or

"You can still get and send mail and emails to important people like MPs, judges, and your lawyer."

Part 2Assessment and treatment of persons suffering from severe substance addiction
Rights of patients: Limits on right to receive and send mail and electronic communications

62Approval required to check and withhold mail and electronic communications

Any direction given under section 61 requires the prior approval of the Area Director.
Before approving a direction under section 61(5) that a computer or device be taken from a patient, the Area Director must be satisfied that the patient has adequate means of receiving electronic communications from and of sending electronic communications to the patient’s lawyer and to the persons described in section 63(2).