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Mental Health Act 2007

  • Explanatory Notes Table of contents

Please note:

All reference to 'Parts' and 'sections' are from the Mental Health Act 2007. For other versions of these Explanatory Notes, see More Resources.

  1. Introduction

  2. List of Abbreviations Used in Explanatory Notes

  3. Background and Summary

    1. Background

    2. Summary

  4. Overview of the Structure

  5. Territorial Extent

    1. Territorial application: Wales

  6. Commentary

    1. Part 1 – Amendments to Mental Health Act 1983

      1. Chapter 1 – Changes to Key Provisions

        1. Section 1: Removal of categories of mental disorder

        2. Schedule 1: Categories of mental disorder: further amendments etc

        3. Section 2: Learning disability

        4. Section 3: Changes to exclusions from operation of 1983 Act

          1. Criteria for detention under the 1983 Act: overview

        5. Section 4: Replacement of “treatability” and “care” tests with appropriate treatment test

        6. Section 5: Further cases in which appropriate treatment test is to apply

        7. Section 6: Appropriate treatment test in Part 4 of 1983 Act

        8. Section 7: Change in definition of “medical treatment”

        9. Section 8: The fundamental principles

      2. Chapter 2 - Professional Roles

        1. Overview

        2. Section 9: Amendments to Part 2 of 1983 Act

        3. Section 10: Amendments to Part 3 of 1983 Act

        4. Section 11: Further amendments to Part 3 of 1983 Act

        5. Section 12: Amendments to Part 4 of 1983 Act

        6. Section 13: Amendments to Part 5 of 1983 Act

        7. Section 14: Amendments to other provisions of 1983 Act

        8. Section 15: Amendments to other Acts

        9. Section 16: Certain registered medical practitioners to be treated as approved under section 12 of 1983 Act

        10. Section 17: Regulations as to approvals in relation to England and Wales

        11. Section 18: Approved mental health professionals

        12. Section 19: Approval of courses etc for approved mental health professionals

        13. Section 20: Amendments to section 62 of Care Standards Act 2000

        14. Section 21: Approved mental health professionals: further amendments and Schedule 2

        15. Section 22: Conflicts of interest

      3. Chapter 3 – Safeguards for Patients

        1. Sections 23-26: Patient’s nearest relative

        2. Sections 27-31: Consent to treatment

          Overview  of consent to treatment provisions in the 1983 Act

        3. Section 27: Electro-convulsive therapy, etc

        4. Section 28: Section 27: supplemental

        5. Section 29: Withdrawal of consent

        6. Section 30: Independent Mental Health Advocates

        7. Section 31: Accommodation etc

      4. Chapter 4 – Supervised Community Treatment

        1. Overview

        2. Section 32: Community treatment orders, etc

        3. Section 33: Relationship with leave of absence

        4. Section 34: Consent to treatment

        5. Section 35: Authority to treat

        6. Section 36: Repeal of provisions for after-care under supervision

        7. Schedule 3: Supervised community treatment: further amendments to 1983 Act

        8. Schedule 4: Supervised community treatment: amendments to other Acts

      5. Chapter 5 - Mental Health Review Tribunals

        1. Section 37: References

        2. Section 38: Organisation

      6. Chapter 6 - Cross-Border Patients

        1. Section 39: Cross-border arrangements

      7. Chapter 7 - Restricted Patients

        1. Section 40: Restriction orders

        2. Section 41: Conditionally discharged patients subject to limitation directions

      8. Chapter 8 - Miscellaneous

        1. Section 42: Offence of ill-treatment: increase in maximum penalty on conviction on indictment

        2. Section 43: Informal admission of patients aged 16 or 17

        3. Section 44: Places of safety

        4. Section 45: Delegation of powers of managers of NHS foundation trusts

        5. Section 46: Local Health Boards

        6. Section 47: Welsh Ministers: procedure for instruments

    2. Part 2 – Amendments to Other Acts

      1. Chapter 1 – Amendments to the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004

        1. Section 48: Victims’ rights and Schedule 6

      2. Chapter 2 - Amendments to Mental Capacity Act 2005

        1. Section 49: Independent mental capacity advocates: exceptions

        2. Section 50: Mental Capacity Act 2005: deprivation of liberty and Schedules 7 to 9

        3. Section 51: Amendment to section 20(11) of Mental Capacity Act 2005

    3. Part 3 - General

      1. Sections 52-59

      2. Section 53 and Schedule 10: Transitional provision and savings

      3. Section 54: Consequential provisions

      4. Section 56: Commencement

      5. Section 57: Commencement of section 36

      6. Section 58: Extent

  7. Transposition Notes

  8. Hansard References

  9. Annex A

  • Explanatory Notes Table of contents

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Explanatory Notes

Text created by the government department responsible for the subject matter of the Act to explain what the Act sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Notes were introduced in 1999 and accompany all Public Acts except Appropriation, Consolidated Fund, Finance and Consolidation Acts.

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