ABSTRACT
This chapter reports the findings of a study of Mental Health Review Tribunal decision-making. A tribunal has a number of outcomes at its disposal when making its decision. The tribunal process is divided into three stages: a pre hearing meeting; the hearing; and the deliberation. The chapter focuses on three major areas: the legislation and more specifically the statutory criteria for discharge; the role of the medical member; and the nature of the decision-making. In the tribunals, medical members provided reports in three ways: indirect opinion, direct opinion, and an interpretive framework. It also focuses on aspects of the decision making process; the time spent on deliberating the evidence that had been heard and the content of the deliberations. Although it is questionable whether tribunals afford all patients a legal safeguard, they frequently provided an opportunity of improving the therapeutic outcomes for the patient.
