20Obligation to release person being temporarily detained

20 Obligation to release person being temporarily detained

[Section 20 Substituted by No. 4 of 2023, s. 54, Applied:25 Sep 2023]

(1)  An MHO or police officer who is responsible for a person who is temporarily detained for assessment must release the person from being so detained if –

(a) before, or during, the authorised detaining period –

(i) informed consent is given to assess or treat the person; or

(ii) an assessment order or treatment order is made in respect of the person; or

(iii) the MHO or police officer reasonably forms the belief that the person no longer meets the criteria for being temporarily detained, as specified in section 17(1) ; or

(b) the authorised detaining period expires and none of the things referred to in paragraph (a) have occurred.

Note

The assessment criteria and the treatment criteria are set out in section 25 and section 40 respectively.

(2)  In this section –

authorised detaining period, in relation to a person being temporarily detained for assessment, means the 4-hour period that commences when –

(a) the person is transported to, or temporarily detained at, an approved assessment centre pursuant to section 18 ; and

(b) a member of staff, who is responsible for the triaging of patients at the centre, is made aware –

(i) of the detained person's arrival at the centre; or

(ii) that the person has been temporarily detained at the centre.