Anger over Garda power on immigrants

NEW powers enabling gardaí to detain immigrants in the Central Mental Hospital without psychiatric examination were heavily criticised yesterday.

Forthcoming legislation dealing with the criminally insane breaches international human rights law and needs to be changed, mental health experts and opposition politicians warned.

The two issues were highlighted in the annual report of the Inspector of Mental Hospitals, published on Wednesday.

The inspector, Professor Dermot Walsh, said the garda powers enshrined in the Immigration Act 1999, which became effective in 2002, had “caused some concern” to forensic teams at the Central Mental Hospital (CMH).

Professor Walsh said this power had been granted without consultation with the Department of Health. He said there was “no protection or relief” under the act to persons so detained.

A spokesman for the CMH yesterday said: “The principal concern is the possibility for immigrants to be detained at the CMH without any proper professional psychiatric assessment.”

He said, during the brief period the legislation had been in force, there had been two cases of immigrants detained in the CMH under this provision.

Caroline McGrath, of Mental Health Ireland, said the garda power was “absolutely preposterous”. She said: “The idea that an order can be made without psychiatric consultation is certainly inappropriate.”

Labour justice spokesman Joe Costello said the provision was “certainly contrary to international conventions”.

The report of the Inspector of Mental Hospitals also criticised the Criminal Law Insanity Bill 2002.

Prof Walsh said the rights and protections under the bill did not cover persons transferred from prison who were deemed to have become mentally-ill while serving a sentence or on remand to the CMH.

He said: “Such persons have no right of appeal to the Mental Health Review Board as provided by the Bill and therefore their detention will not be subject to any independent review process, almost certainly in contravention of international human rights charters.”

Ms McGrath said she shared these concerns while Mr Costello said the provision would have to be changed.

A spokeswoman for Justice Minister Michael McDowell said he intended to amend the bill, addressing Prof Walsh’s concerns.

In relation to the powers in the Immigration Act, the spokeswoman said the act updated similar powers in existence since 1994.

Since 1999, the immigrants concerned had been failed asylum seekers awaiting deportation. The rarely used provision was for short term detention and to facilitate removal from the State, she said.