Citation

Peay J. Br. J. Criminol. 1988; 28(1): 67-81.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1988, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, Publisher Oxford University Press)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article reviews the proposals put forward in a joint D.H.S.S./Home Office consultation document to amend Section 37 of the Mental Health Act 1983. This concerns the powers of the courts to order the compulsory admission to hospital of mentally disordered offenders. The consultation document proposed altering the courts' powers in the cases of those suffering specifically from psychopathic disorder. If adopted, the recommendations would have had consequences not only for the courts' sentencing options, but also for the bases on which such offenders would be treated and released from confinement. Following widespread comments, the proposals for amendment were dropped. This article addresses both the principal arguments which led to their ultimate rejection and the wider problems raised by offenders diagnosed as suffering from psychopathic disorder.