R. (M.) v. Byrne & Ors

On the 31 st January, 2007 on an ex-parte application on behalf of the applicant I directed an enquiry pursuant to Article 40.4 of the Constitution into the legality of the detention of the applicant by the respondents, and I directed the respondents to certify in writing the grounds upon which the applicant was detained. That enquiry proceeded at 11 a.m. on the 2 nd February, 2007.

The respondents certified that the ground upon which the applicant was detained was that she was detained pursuant to a "Renewal Order" made pursuant to s. 15(2) of the Mental Health Act, 2001 (hereinafter referred to as the Act), made on the 21 st December, 2006, which Renewal Order was affirmed by a Mental Health Tribunal pursuant to s. 18(1) of the Act on the 9 th January, 2007, both of which orders were said to have been made lawfully.

I concluded the enquiry on the 2 nd of February, 2007 by holding that the applicant's detention was lawful and hereunder I set out my reasons for that conclusion.

The applicant is 43 years of age and for most of her adult life she has suffered from serious mental illness. For most of the past eleven years she has been an involuntary patient in the care of the respondents and since 2002 has been detained pursuant to the relevant statutory provisions then operative, in a special care unit, as distinct form an open admission unit.

In accordance with the provisions of s. 72(4) of the Act, the detention of the applicant was referred to a Mental Health Tribunal by the Mental Health Commission to be reviewed as if it had been authorised by Renewal Order under s. 15(2) of the Act of 2001.