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The Ontario criminal justice system often recognizes the causal connection that can sometimes exist between mental health issues and criminal behaviour. This is demonstrated via the existence of mental health courts in Ontario. These are specialized criminal law courts designed to assist accused individuals who have mental health issues. However, there's often a great variance between mental health courts in the way that each one is run.
Mental health courts in Ontario typically comprise a specialized judge or group of judges who sit only in that court. They also feature either a specialized Crown attorney or a small number of Crown attorneys assigned to that court. To further support these legal proceedings, there's a specialized duty counsel or a small number of duty counsels assigned to the court, alongside specially trained court officers, mental health court workers, and an on-site psychiatrist available on specific days.
The existence of these resources and professionals is an acknowledgement of the difficulty that criminal charges can represent for an individual who has mental health issues. The intention behind mental health courts is to smooth the process of dealing with and resolving criminal charges for those accused individuals who are dealing with mental health issues.
However, it's important to keep in mind that there is a variance between different mental health courts with respect to the criminal proceedings they handle. For instance, some of the criminal proceedings that can occur in mental health courts in Ontario include Assessment Orders, which allow the court to assess the accused person’s mental health to determine if they are fit to stand trial, or not criminally responsible due to their mental health.
Another kind of procedure is Mental Health Diversion, which is a resolution method that doesn't involve a guilty plea or trial, keeping the accused's mental health into account. This is typically available for less serious matters and requires the accused to take responsibility for their actions and see a psychiatrist. With the successful execution of these terms, they may be able to avoid a criminal conviction or trial. These terms are negotiated by the accused’s criminal defence lawyer and the Crown, where the Crown ultimately decides if the matter is suitable to be resolved through diversion.
In addition, mental health courts in busier jurisdictions may also conduct bail hearings, accept guilty pleas, and handle judicial pre-trials and even some trials for accused persons with mental health issues. But before an accused can have their criminal charges addressed in a mental health court, they usually need to meet certain criteria. In some courts, the accused will need to meet a mental health court worker for a preliminary conversation for approval before they can be transferred into the court.
However, this is not the case in every courthouse, as the strictness of the criteria varies. To better understand the process and requirements of the mental health court in a specific courthouse, it is always beneficial to consult with your criminal defence lawyer.
