Bill 130 — " Ur Fourth Session, 16Th Legislature, 20 Elizabeth Ii the Ler}Islative Assembly of Alberta Bill 130 the Forensic Clinic Act (Legislature 16, Session 4)

L16 S4 4961

Alberta — Bills

1971 Bill 130 " ur Fourth Session, 16th Legislature, 20 Elizabeth II THE LEr}ISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ALBERTA BILL The Forensic Clinic Act MR. WERRY First Reading .............................. . Second Reading Third Reading ................................. Printed by L. S. Wall, Queen's Printer, Edmonton BILL THE FORENSIC CLINIC ACT (Assented to , 1971) HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, enacts as follows: 1.

Subject to the 'appr'Opriati'On of moneys by the Legis lature, the Department of Heal,th shall establish a clinic at ,one general hospital in Calgary and d.n EdmDnton to be known as the Forensic Clinic 'Of the said general hospital. 2. The Minister of Health shall appoint a director for each clinic referred to in sect~on 1. 3. Before hearing a charge 'Or before plea Dr before giving sentence, a judge .or magistrate may ,order any person wh'O is before him charged with .or convicted of any offence to attend the dinic for physical Dr mental examination, diagnosis 'Or treatment. 4. An 'Order under

section shall not be made until the judge or magistrate has ascertained from the director of the clinic that the s!ervi.ces of the clinic are available to the person named in the order. 5. The director of the dinic may in his discr'etion report all Dr any part of the informationoompiled by the clinic to (

a) the judge or magistrate who made the order, (

b) the person examined, 'Or (

c) any person who, in the opinion of the director, has a bona fide interest in the person examined. Explanatory Notes Under the provisions of this Act judges land magistrates may refer a person who is charged or convicted of 'any offence to attend at a Forensic Clini'c for examination, diagnosis Dr treatment.

Often a orime is, in ,addition toa hreach .of the oriminallaw, a symptom of gross disturbance, portending aberrant behaviour in the future; at this point in time a judge or magistrate has no aLternative but to sentence a person ac'oording to the crime com mitted and has to completely ignore deviant behaviour. A diag nosis from a Forensic Clinic would make such potential known to the Court prior t'O sentencing. The courts are becoming increasingly concerned with all aspects 'Of sentencing and they need a more comprehensive range of diagnostic facts ito assist in the task of sentencing.

The court may well require, as a consequence of forensic evaluation, that a sentence include treatment as well as punishment. The use of forensic services at the criminal court level has its greatest potential for prevention 'Of future oriminal offences by detecting early the deviant behaviour of an offender. It would also draw to the Court's attention, behaviour whi'ch cannot be corrected, thus supporting a sentence to long-term custody to protect ,society.

It would further assist in providing for uniformity of sentencing and has great potential for allowing the court to suspend sentence and place on probation those persons who could be treated on an out-patient basis from the Forensic Clinic. Title: 1971 (16th, 4th) Bill 130, The Forensic Clinic Act

Document details

Collection	Alberta — Bills
Citation	L16 S4 4961
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	L16 S4 4961
Language	en
Format	json
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	1b48e71220ba44e0b5b0b1052fccdfbcabf6e0af

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