Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016

Conditions which must be satisfied before order can be made

2.—(1) A court may make a supervision and assessment order only if the following four conditions are met.

(2) The first condition is that the court is satisfied, on the required medical evidence, that the supervised person has a disorder, or that there is reason to suspect that the supervised person has a disorder.

(3) The second condition is that the court is satisfied, on the required medical evidence, that examination of the supervised person (“S”) is necessary or desirable for the assessment of one or both of the following—

(a) whether the disorder requires treatment;

(b) whether consent to the giving of such treatment will be given by S, or by a person with authority to give consent on behalf of S, or whether such treatment will be capable of being given to S by virtue of Part 2 of this Act (or, if S is under 16, under the Mental Health Order).

(4) The third condition is that the court is satisfied that supervision under the order is desirable in the interests of—

(a) securing the rehabilitation of the supervised person, or

(b) protecting the public from harm from that person or preventing the commission by that person of offences.

(5) The fourth condition is that the court is satisfied that the making of such an order is the most suitable means of dealing with the supervised person.

(6) In this paragraph “the required medical evidence” means the written or oral evidence of at least two medical practitioners, including—

(a) if the disorder is mental disorder, the oral evidence of an approved medical practitioner;

(b) otherwise, the oral evidence of a medical practitioner who appears to the court to have special experience in the diagnosis or treatment of the disorder.