ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the rights of psychiatric patients in the common law jurisdictions of Canada. Its main focus is the system of civil commitment, whereby individuals are certifi ed under provincial mental health legislation and detained in a psychiatric facility without their consent, and (in some provinces) treated without their consent. These individuals are usually referred to as ‘formal’ or ‘involuntary’ patients, signaling the key issue that their stay in hospital is non-consensual (Robertson 1994 ). This chapter also examines the rights of patients who are detained in a psychiatric facility pursuant to the criminal justice system, having been found not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder or unfi t to stand trial.
