Mental Health Protection Bill among seven proposed legislation tabled

Apr 15, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – The Mental Health Protection and Promotion Bill 2022, is among seven pieces of proposed legislation laid in the National Assembly on Wednesday.

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony.

In addition to the Mental Health Bill, Nurses and Midwives Bill 2022 and the Radiation Safety and Security Bill 2022, the Juvenile Justice (Amendment) Bill, The Evidence (Amendment) Bill of 2022 and the Condominium Bill and the Tax (Amendment) Bill 2022. The bills were read for the first in the National Assembly by the respective Subject Ministers.
In a brief of what the mental health legislation means for Guyana, Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony told the Assembly that once the bill becomes law it, “will provide mental health care and treatment for persons with mental illness, and protect, promote and fulfill the human rights of those persons during the delivery of mental health care”.
The new law, according to Minister Anthony will also make way for the establishment of a Mental Health Board. He said the law will also repeal the mental hospital ordinance and replace it with the board, which will be responsible for advising and assisting the Minister in the areas of mental health and promoting best practices when it comes to mental health care.
Additionally the board will “receive and investigate complaints on any matter connected with mental health care and treatment (and) undergo a periodic review at least once every six months of all persons receiving mental health care in a mental health facility”.
The other bill presented by Minister Anthony was the Radiation Safety and Security Bill 2022 which will provide for the safe, secure and peaceful uses of ionising radiation, protect persons and the environment against the harmful effects of radioactive waste, and the establishment of the Radiation Safety and Security Board.
Dr. Anthony also presented the Nurses and Midwives Bill 2022, which he described as a bill to make provisions for the registration and regulation of nurses, midwives, nursing assistants, and specialist nurses.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, SC, presented the Evidence (Amendment) Bill of 2022 which seeks to amend the Evidence Act, Chap. 5:03, by inserting a new section, 63A into the principal Act.
The amendments will now allow for a confession made by an accused in any proceedings to be used as evidence by the person’s co-accused – provided it is relevant to the matter at hand and has not been excluded by the court.
The Juvenile Justice (Amendment) Bill, on the other hand was laid by Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn. According to the bill’s explanatory memorandum, the Government is now seeking for juveniles who commit crimes with adults that cannot be treated summarily to be charged jointly.
At present, Section 3(bi) of the Act provides for the juvenile justice system to be separate from the system used for adults. With the amendment, the Magistrate or Judge will still be allowed to employ any measure deemed appropriate by the court, to ensure that the best interest of the juvenile takes precedence.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh presented the Tax (Amendment) Bill 2022, which seeks to amend the Tax Act and Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal presented the Condominium Bill 2022. The latter seeks to “make provision for the horizontal and vertical subdivision of land and buildings into units for individual ownership and to make provision for the use and management of condominiums…”

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