New South Wales Consolidated Acts

MENTAL HEALTH AND COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT FORENSIC PROVISIONS ACT 2020 - SECT 21

21 Proceedings before authorised justice

(1) If, at the commencement of or at any time during the course of the hearing of proceedings under the Bail Act 2013 before an authorised justice, it appears to the authorised justice that the defendant is a mentally ill person or a mentally disordered person, the authorised justice may (without affecting any other order under the Bail Act 2013 that the officer may make in relation to the defendant)--

(a) order that the defendant be taken to, and detained in, a mental health facility for assessment, or

(b) order that the defendant be taken to, and detained in, a mental health facility for assessment and that, if the defendant is found on assessment at the mental health facility not to be a mentally ill person or mentally disordered person, the defendant be brought back before a Magistrate or an authorised justice as soon as practicable unless granted bail by a police officer at that facility.

(2) An authorised justice is to state the reasons for making a decision as to whether or not a defendant should be dealt with by an order under subsection (1).

(3) A failure to comply with subsection (2) does not invalidate a decision of an authorised justice under this section.