The use of compulsory care and treatment for mentally disordered offenders
We report on the numbers of orders granted under the Criminal Procedures (Scotland) Act 1995 (CPSA) and under the 2003 Act for mentally disordered offenders (Table 18). 
Download Table 18 in Excel format
Download Table 19 in Excel format
The number of compulsion orders notified to the Commission this year continues a downward trend since 1996. Restriction orders remain within the range seen over the past few years (Table 20). 
Download Table 20 in Excel format
Interim compulsion orders have fallen for the second year running since the implementation of the 2003 Act. This may be a reflection of extended renewal time from 28 days to 12 weeks. Post-sentence prison transfers are unchanged this year compared to last. Section 200(2) (b) allows for the committal to hospital of a person post-conviction but pre-sentence. The 2003 Act made improved provisions under S52 for the assessment and treatment of mentally disordered offenders before a final disposal was made by the court. S200 of the CPSA continues to be used, albeit in reduced numbers. We believe that the provisions of S52 are more appropriate for mentally disordered offenders and render the use of S200 unnecessary. The number of convicted prisoners transferred to hospital for the treatment of mental disorder continues the general downward trend since 1995. We believe that lower use of CPSA for less serious offences suggests that other measures, especially court diversion schemes, make sure that people with mental health problems have access to care and treatment without the added distress of appearing in court.
Annual reports
- director’s introduction
- overview of the operation of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003
- new orders granted in 2007-08
- new orders granted in 2007-08
- emergency detention
- short-term detention
- comparison between the use of emergency and short-term detention
- compulsory treatment orders
- geographical variations in the use of the Act
- the use of nurses' power to detain
- trends in the use of civil compulsory treatment
the use of compulsory care and treatment for mentally disordered offenders
- findings from our visits to individuals subject to long-term compulsion
- total numbers of orders in existence
- monitoring of priority areas
- additional findings from our monitoring programme
- use of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000