Legal Rights Explained

This means the doctor believes you are experiencing a mental health condition that affects your thinking, mood, or behaviour.

This means the doctor believes you need treatment in a hospital setting to help improve or stabilize your mental health.

This may include concerns that (a) you could harm yourself or someone else, or (b) your mental and/or physical health could get much worse if you do not receive treatment.

This means the doctor believes you may not understand or accept the need for treatment at this time.

That’s us! Thank you for meeting with us.

Our role is to explain your rights, answer questions, and support you in understanding your options. You’re eligible for one Rights meeting every certification period. Tell a member of your treatment team if you want to meet with a Rights Advisor or visit the Independent Rights Advice Service website.

The doctor or nurse practitioner must clearly explain why they believe you meet all four criteria. These reasons must be written on your medical certificate (Form 4.1 or Form 4.2). If your certification is renewed, the reasons must be included on the renewal certificate (Form 6).

You have the right to know what is on your certificate. Ask a member of your treatment team to see your certificate(s) or have the contents read aloud to you. Access Form 4.1, Form 4.2, and Form 6.

If you do not agree with your mental health treatment, you can ask for another doctor to give a second opinion on your treatment. Please access Form 11.

You have the right to apply for a review panel hearing with the Mental Health Review Board. Review panels have three people who will hear your case and decide if you still meet all four criteria to be an involuntary patient. Access a copy of Form 7 and/or visit the Mental Health Review Board website.

When you apply for a hearing, you can ask for free legal help from the Mental Health Law Program. They can connect you with a legal representative to help prepare your case and represent you.

You have the right to contact a lawyer at all times. The facility must provide access to a phone and a private room to call. Learn more about eligibility for free legal aid;

There are three court processes for challenging your involuntary detention:

Judicial review: If you are not satisfied with the decision of your review panel hearing, you have the right to apply to a judge to investigate the panel’s decision for any errors of procedural fairness.

Section 33 application: You have the right to ask the court to review your doctor’s decision to keep you in the facility as an involuntary patient.

Habeas Corpus application: You have the right to apply to the court to ask a judge if your medical certificates are in order.

As with all of the court procedures, it is best that you are supported and/or represented by a lawyer.

Rights Advisors provide an independent and confidential service. Our role is to provide you with legal information about your rights under British Columbia’s Mental Health Act and to support you in understanding your options.

As we are not part of your treatment team, we are uninvolved in decisions regarding your involuntary certification. This means we are not involved in your involuntary admission, psychiatric treatment or matters related to your discharge.

Under British Columbia’s Mental Health Act, if you are certified as an involuntary patient, psychiatric treatment for your mental disorder can be provided without your consent. You still have the right to ask questions about the medication, including what it is for, the benefits, and possible side effects. You retain the right to refuse and/or consent to non-psychiatric medication.

Remember, that it is also your legal right to request a second medical opinion by submitting Form 11. Treatment must be medically appropriate and connected to your mental disorder. Your concerns and experiences matter, and you are entitled to be treated with dignity and respect.

Voluntary admission refers to an individual that has willingly sought psychiatric treatment for their mental illness at a healthcare facility. Voluntary patients retain their legal right to refuse/consent to psychiatric medication and request to be discharged from the healthcare facility.

Involuntary admission occurs when a doctor or nurse practitioner determines that an individual meets all (4) of the involuntary admission criteria required for certification as an involuntary patient. When admitted as an involuntary patient, patients cannot refuse psychiatric treatment or leave the hospital without authorization while they are certified.

However, being involuntary does not mean losing all rights. Involuntary patients still have important legal protections.

Being in hospital involuntarily can feel confusing and overwhelming. Under the Mental Health Act, you can be kept in hospital for as long as a doctor believes you continue to meet the admission criteria.

In some cases, your care may continue outside the hospital on an outpatient basis through something called extended leave. This means a doctor believes you still meet all of the involuntary admission criteria, but that your treatment may be better supported in a community setting.

There are set timeframes for review (see diagram below), and you have the right to be reassessed regularly. You must be discharged from involuntary status as soon as a doctor determines that you no longer meet all four criteria.

Decisions about whether you continue to meet the criteria are made by medical professionals. A doctor or nurse practitioner can complete the initial Form 4.1. For the remaining certification periods, only a doctor can reassess you and decide whether to renew your involuntary status.

As an an involuntary patient, you have the right to ask questions and be involved in your treatment plan. If you disagree with your detention status as you believe you do not meet all four of the involuntary admission criteria, you have the right to apply for a review panel hearing (Form 7). You also have the right to speak with a lawyer at any time.

If you are an involuntary patient, You cannot leave the hospital without authorization (i.e. passess) while you are certified. If you are interested in the possibility of being an involuntary patient in community, please ask your treatment team about Extended Leave (EL).

• Extended Leave (Form 17 – Leave Authorization)
Your doctor may authorize you to live in the community under specific conditions (i.e. attending appointments or taking medication). This is referred to as ‘extended leave.’ On extended leave, you are still legally certified, but you are living in the community as an out-patient instead of being an in-patient in hospital.

EL patients are now able to book a Rights Advice meeting directly through our IRAS booking Portal

Nomination and Notification of a Near Relative (Form 15 and 16) If you are admitted involuntarily, the hospital must notify a “near relative” that you have been admitted. Completing a Form 15: Nomination of Near Relative allows you to choose which relative you would like to be notified about your admission, review panel hearing, and/or discharge status. The hospital will then submit a Form 16: Notification to a Near Relative to notify a near relative of your admission and other important updates, as is required under the Mental Health Act This notification typically confirms that you have been admitted and the name of the hospital. It does not automatically mean detailed medical information will be shared.

It’s common to feel anxious about who knows what. You have a voice in this. While the hospital has a legal duty to notify a near relative of an involuntary admission, your broader medical information remains protected. If family involvement feels supportive, staff can help include them. If it feels unsafe or unwanted, you can raise those concerns and ask about your options.