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ANALYSIS:The time has come for a fundamental review of the Mental Health Act 2001, writes Darius Whelan

THE HASTY enactment of the Mental Health Act 2008 last week has probably resolved the legal issues caused by the recent High Court case, but there are other related issues that remain unresolved. Mr Justice Bryan McMahon issued a significant ruling in the case of a woman who has been detained in St Patrick's Hospital since August 2007. Various legal issues arose regarding her detention. Her legal team initially argued, amongst other points, that the third renewal order in her case was invalid either (a) because it ordered her continued detention in hospital even though her psychiatrist believed she would fare better in supported accommodation, or (b) because the renewal form produced by the Mental Health Commission did not allow a third renewal of this type for a period shorter than 12 months, even if the individual circumstances of the patient required a shorter period of detention.