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(1) A person arrested for a criminal act and in police custody shall be assessed by a mental health practitioner within forty-eight hours if there is suspicion of mental disorder.

(2) The provisions of the Criminal and other Offences Procedure Act, 1960 (Act 30) with respect to offenders with mental disorder shall apply to this Act.

(3) An offender suspected to have mental disorder at the time of the commission of the offence shall be sent to a psychiatric hospital for assessment and if found to have mental disorder shall be committed to treatment.

(4) An offender undergoing treatment at a psychiatric hospital shall have the same rights as a non-offender in treatment, including the right to judicial review by the Court.

(5) An offender assessed and found not fit to stand trial shall have the charges stayed while undergoing treatment.

(6) An offender with mental disorder at the sentencing stage shall not be imprisoned but be given probation in the form of a hospital order to be treated at a mental health facility or security psychiatric hospital depending on the severity of the crime and the risk to the public.

(7) An offender assessed and found to have had a mental disorder at the time of the offence and found by the court not to be responsible for a criminal act due to mental disorder, who on reassessment by the mental health facility is found no longer to have mental disorder, or is no longer in need of in-patient treatment shall be discharged if the offence is a minor offence otherwise a report shall be made to the court for further directive.

(8) A convicted prisoner serving a sentence who becomes sufficiently mentally ill to warrant in-patient treatment shall be transferred to a security psychiatric hospital for treatment.

(9) A prisoner in a mental health facility shall not be kept longer than sentenced unless civil commitment procedures are followed.

(10) A Court may authorise for psychiatric assessment of a person who attempts to commit suicide.