Mental Disorder and the Law

Canada’s criminal courts have struggled to deal effectively with the increase in mentally disordered accused. In 2017, we mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the proclamation of Bill C-30, which introduced landmark amendments to the Criminal Code as it pertains to mentally disordered accused. Since then, certain provinces have implemented mental health courts and “diversion” programs in an effort to connect the mentally disordered accused with the civil mental health care systems. Following the overwhelming success of its first edition, this book further examines the logical and temporal sequence of the issues a mentally disordered accused is likely to encounter from arrest to sentencing. This new edition of Mental Disorder and the Law aims to provide a succinct overview of the key topics that judges, Crown and defence counsel, and mental health providers face in their day-to-day work with mentally disordered offenders.