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Mental Health
(Care and Treatment)
Act 2008

2020 REVISED EDITION

This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021

An Act to provide for the admission, detention, care and treatment of mentally disordered persons in designated psychiatric institutions.

[1 March 2010: Except paragraph (i) of item 1(8)(a), item 1(8)(b) and item 1(41) of the Second Schedule ]

PART 1

PRELIMINARY

Short title

1. This Act is the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act 2008.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“designated medical practitioner”, in relation to any psychiatric institution, means a medical practitioner who is working in the psychiatric institution and who is designated by name or office in writing by the Director‑General or such public officer as the Director‑General may appoint, for the purposes of this Act;

[Act 11 of 2023 wef 01/05/2023]

[Deleted by Act 11 of 2023 wef 01/05/2023]

“Director‑General” means the Director‑General of Health;

[Act 11 of 2023 wef 01/05/2023]

“medical practitioner” means any person who is registered as a medical practitioner under the Medical Registration Act 1997;

“mental disorder” means any mental illness or any other disorder or disability of the mind, and “mentally disordered” is to be construed accordingly;

“patient” means any person who has been detained or is receiving treatment in a psychiatric institution;

“principal officer”, in relation to any psychiatric institution, means the chairperson, medical board of the hospital which has been designated as a psychiatric institution or a part of which has been designated as a psychiatric institution (as the case may be) and includes any acting chairperson of the medical board or any person acting in a similar capacity as chairperson, medical board, whether or not that person is known by such designation;

“property” includes any thing in action and any interest in real or personal property;

“psychiatric institution” means a psychiatric institution designated by the Minister under section 3;

“psychiatrist” means any medical practitioner who is registered as a psychiatrist in the Register of Specialists under the Medical Registration Act 1997;

“relative”, in relation to a person suffering or appearing to be suffering from mental disorder, means any of the following persons being, in the case of any of the persons mentioned in paragraphs (b) to (i), a person 18 years of age or older:

(a)	husband or wife, or reputed husband or wife who is living with the person or, if the person is for the time being an inpatient in a hospital, was so living when the person was last residing at liberty out of a hospital;
(b)	son or daughter;
(c)	father or mother;
(d)	brother or sister;
(e)	grandparent;
(f)	grandchild;
(g)	uncle or aunt;
(h)	nephew or niece;
(i)	any person with whom the person ordinarily resides or, if the person is for the time being an inpatient in a hospital, with whom the person was ordinarily residing when last at liberty out of a hospital;

“treatment” includes observation, inpatient treatment, outpatient treatment and rehabilitation.

(2) In sections 20, 28 and 29, “court” means the General Division of the High Court or a Family Court.

[27/2014; 40/2019]

(3) In deducing relationships for the purposes of this section, any relationship of the half-blood is to be treated as a relationship of the whole blood, an illegitimate child is to be treated as the legitimate child of his or her mother and reputed father, and an adopted child is to be treated as a child of the adopting parent.