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Substance Addiction (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 2017

Assessment and treatment of persons suffering from severe substance addiction - Procedure

78: Court may call for report on patient

You could also call this:

"The court can ask for a report about you to help make a decision about your treatment."

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

The court can ask someone to write a report about you if you are a patient and the court needs more information to make a decision. The court chooses who writes the report and makes sure they are qualified to do so. The report can be about any part of your condition that is relevant to the court's decision.

If the report is about whether you should have compulsory treatment, it must be written by a specialist who is approved. The court can also ask for information about your background and needs if you are a child or young person, and this information can come from the department that administers the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989. The court will consider what you want and what other people involved in the case want when deciding whether to ask for a report.

When the court gets a report, it must give a copy to your lawyer or to you if you do not have a lawyer. But if the court thinks that sharing the report could hurt someone, it can stop your lawyer from showing it to you. If the court asks someone to write a report, it must also decide who pays for the report, either one of the parties involved or the government.

Before the court decides who pays, it must listen to the people who will be affected by the decision. The court will make sure that the person who writes the report gets paid for their work.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6609230.

Topics:
Health and wellbeing > Mental healthCrime and justice > Courts and legal help
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Part 2Assessment and treatment of persons suffering from severe substance addiction
Procedure

78Court may call for report on patient

  1. The court may, if it is satisfied that it is necessary for the proper determination of an application, request any person it considers qualified to do so to prepare a report on any relevant aspect of the patient's condition.

  2. However, a report under subsection (1) may address the question of whether, in relation to the patient, the criteria for compulsory treatment is met or continues to be met only if the report is prepared by an approved specialist.

  3. Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), in the case of a child or young person, the court may direct the chief executive to locate the information, if any, that the department responsible for the administration of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 holds about the background, circumstances, and needs of the child or young person and to provide that information to the court.

  4. In deciding whether to request a report under subsection (1), the court may ascertain and have regard to the wishes of the patient and any other party.

  5. The Registrar must give a copy of a report obtained under this section to the lawyers for the parties or, if a party is not represented by a lawyer, to that party.

  6. The court must order that a copy of a report given to a lawyer under subsection (5) must not be given or shown to the person for whom the lawyer is acting if the court has reason to believe that disclosure of the contents of the report may pose a serious threat to the health or safety of any other person.

  7. If the court requests a person to prepare a report, the court must make an order for the fees and expenses of the person—

  8. to be paid by 1 or more specified parties; or
    1. to be met from any appropriation by Parliament for the purpose.

      1. Before making an order under subsection (7)(a), the court must hear the party or parties affected.

      Compare
      Notes
      • Section 78(3): amended, on , by section 149 of the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families (Oranga Tamariki) Legislation Act 2017 (2017 No 31).