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Crimes Act 1900
331Referral to ACAT
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331 Referral to ACAT
(1) If this division applies, the relevant court may, before sentencing the
convicted person, order him or her to submit to the jurisdiction of the
ACAT to enable the ACAT—
(a) to determine whether or not the person has a mental impairment;
and
(b) if the ACAT determines that the person has a mental impairment
—to make recommendations as to how the person should be
dealt with.
(2) If the ACAT notifies the relevant court that a convicted person has a
mental impairment, the court shall, in consideration of the ACAT’s
recommendations, make any order it considers appropriate.
(3) The orders that the court may make under subsection (2) include an
order that the person submit to the jurisdiction of the ACAT to enable
the ACAT to make a mental health order or forensic mental health
order.
(4) If the relevant court orders a person who is found by the ACAT to
have a mental impairment to be sentenced to a period of
imprisonment, the court shall not order the person to be imprisoned
for a period greater than any period of imprisonment to which the
person could have been sentenced, apart from that finding.
Division 13.6 Summary proceedings against
mentally impaired people