To describe the characteristics of individuals found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (NCRMD) after the 1992 Criminal Code amendments and to track their movement through the forensic system, as well as to unveil the changes to British Columbia's forensic psychiatric system that resulted from Bill C-30.
Method:
Profile information relating to persons found NCRMD between February 4, 1992, and February 4, 1998, in British Columbia was collected and analyzed. Community follow-up data was collected and analyzed for a 24-month period following a subject's discharge from hospital.
Results:
A substantially greater number of individuals entered the forensic psychiatric system in British Columbia after Bill C-30 was implemented. The post-1992 forensic psychiatric population contained fewer persons charged with serious index offences and a greater number of persons charged with relatively minor offences. The length of hospitalization for the NCRMD cohort decreased substantially after the 1992 Criminal Code amendments.
Conclusion:
The Bill C-30 provisions have made the NCRMD defence an attractive option for defendants and legal counsel.
Bill C-30, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and to amend the National Defence Act and the Young Offenders Act in consequence thereof (assented to 1991, c. 43, s. 4, proclaimed in force February 4, 1992).
2.
R. v Swain (1991), 63 C.C.C. (3d) 481.
3.
Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Part 1 of the Constitution Act (1982), being Schedule B of the Canada Act1982 (U.K.), 1982, c. 11.
4.
GrantI.Developments in substantive criminal law: The 1998–99 term. Supreme Court Law Review2000;11:233–306.
5.
EavesDOgloffJRPRoeschR, editors. Mental disorders and the Criminal Code: Legal background and contemporary perspectives. Burnaby (BC): Mental Health, Law, and Policy Institute; 2000.
6.
McIntyreJ.Amendments to the Criminal Code (Mental Disorder): Bill C-30 and Review Boards. Canadian Journal of Administrative Law and Practice1992–1993;6:157–86.
7.
SwaminathRSNorrisPDKomerWJSidhuG.A review of the amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada (Mental Disorder). Can J Psychiatry1993;38:567–70.
8.
Verdun-JonesSN. The insanity defence in Canada—setting a new course. Int J Law Psychiatry1994;17:175–89.
9.
SmithJGrantF.Amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada: Impacts on inpatient psychiatric remands. J Forensic Psychiatry1993;4:355–60.
10.
StuartHArboleda-FlorezJCrisantiAS. Impact of legal reforms on length of forensic assessments in Alberta, Canada. Int J Law Psychiatry2001;24:527–38.
11.
Arboleda-FlorezJCrisantiAHolleyHL. The effects of changes in the law concerning mentally disordered offenders: The Alberta experience with Bill C-30. Can J Psychiatry1995;40:225–33.
12.
RoeschROgloffJRPHartSDDempsterRJZapfPAWhittemoreKE. The impact of Canadian Criminal Code changes on remands and assessments of fitness to stand trial and criminal responsibility in British Columbia. Can J Psychiatry1997;42:509–14.
13.
OhayonMMCrockerASt-OngeBCauletM.Fitness, responsibility, and judicially ordered assessment. Can J Psychiatry1998;43:491–5.
14.
NussbaumDMalcolmsonSDosisO.Summary of research on Bill C-30 implementation in Ontario during 1993 and 1994. In: EavesDOgloffJRPRoeschR, editors. Mental disorders and the Criminal Code: Legal background and contemporary perspectives. Burnaby (BC): Mental Health, Law, and Policy Institute; 2000; p 104–18.
15.
DavisS.Examining the impact of Bill C-30 in British Columbia. Int Bull Law Mental Health1994;5:5–9.
16.
ZapfPARoeschR.Fitness to stand trial: Characteristics of remands since the 1992 Criminal Code amendments. Can J Psychiatry1998;43:287–93.
17.
OhayonMCrockerA.Impact of Bill C-30 in the Province of Quebec. In: EavesDOgloffJRPRoeschR, editors. Mental disorders and the Criminal Code: Legal background and contemporary perspectives. Burnaby (BC): Mental Health, Law, and Policy Institute; 2000; p 119–28.
18.
OgloffJRP. The use of the insanity defence in British Columbia: A qualitative and quantitative analysis. Cited in: Hylton JH. Care or control: Health or criminal justice options for the long-term seriously mentally ill in a Canadian province. Int J Law Psychiatry1995;18:45–59.
19.
Arboleda-FlorezJ.Research on the impact of the Criminal Code amendments in Alberta. In: EavesDOgloffJRPRoeschR, editors. Mental disorders and the Criminal Code: Legal background and contemporary perspectives. Burnaby (BC): Mental Health, Law, and Policy Institute; 2000; p 129–39.
20.
GrantI.Canada's new mental disorder disposition provisions: A case study of the British Columbia Criminal Code Review Board. Int J Law Psychiatry1997;20:419–43.
21.
MacKayR.Insanity and fitness to stand trial in Canada and England: A comparative study of recent developments. J Forensic Psychiatry1995;6:121–38.
22.
Review of the Mental Disorder Provisions of the Criminal Code: Report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights (June 2002). Ottawa: Government of Canada.
23.
GoldingSLEavesDKowazAM. The assessment, treatment, and community outcome of insanity acquittees: Forensic history and response to treatment. Int J Law Psychiatry1989;12:149–79.
24.
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 3rd ed. Revised. Washington (DC): American Psychiatric Association; 1987.
25.
JohnstonC.Changes in Criminal Code will create more work for psychiatric facilities, MDs say. CMAJ1992;146:1788–90.
26.
British Columbia (Forensic Psychiatric Institute) v Johnson (1995), B.C.J. No 2247 para. 59, Wood J.A.
