Mental Defectives and Sexual Offenders: Report of the Committee of Inquiry Appointed by the Hon. Sir Maui Pomare, K.B.E., C.M.G., Minister of Health — John Shaqi
Mental Defectives and Sexual Offenders: Report of the Committee of Inquiry Appointed by the Hon. Sir Maui Pomare, K.B.E., C.M.G., Minister of HealthNew Zealand. Committee of Inquiry into Mental Defectives and Sexual Offenders
Science
Mental Defectives and Sexual Offenders: Report of the Committee of Inquiry Appointed by the Hon. Sir Maui Pomare, K.B.E., C.M.G., Minister of Health
New Zealand. Committee of Inquiry into Mental Defectives and Sexual Offenders
Mental health laws -- New Zealand; People with mental disabilities -- Care -- New Zealand; People with mental disabilities -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- New Zealand; Sex offenders -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- New Zealand; Sterilization (Birth control) -- New Zealand
Lastly, the English Commission held that the protection of the mentally
defective person, whatever form it takes, should be continued as long as
it is necessary for his good.
These principles appear to us to be quite sound, and we have no
hesitation in adopting them.
_Proposed Eugenic Board._
In regard to the method of compiling the register, some excellent
suggestions were made by Dr. Theodore Grant Gray, Medical Superintendent
of the Nelson Mental Hospital. He proposed, first, that a Government
Department or sub-department should be created to deal with all
feeble-minded and mentally defective persons living outside
institutions. It would deal not only with the feeble-minded, but it
would act the part of a Government "after-care association," in that it
would keep in touch with all persons discharged from mental hospitals.
One of its duties would be to keep a register of all feeble-minded,
epileptic, and mentally defective persons living outside institutional
care. Dr. Gray further suggests that the register should be compiled in
the following manner:--
(1.) It would be a statutory duty of all School Medical
Officers to report to the Department the names of all
feeble-minded or epileptic children in their districts.
(2.) It would be the duty of the District Education Board to
report any child of school age who was not attending school
because of feeble-mindedness or epilepsy.
(3.) It would be the duty of the Superintendent, owner, or
licensee of every hospital, private hospital, industrial
school, or reformatory prison to notify the Department upon
the admission of any person suffering from feeble-mindedness
or epilepsy.
(4.) It would be the duty of the Superintendent of every
mental hospital to notify the name of every person discharged
from a mental hospital.
(5.) It would be the duty of every Judge or Magistrate in all
cases brought before him in which there appears to be mental
enfeeblement or epilepsy to call to his assistance an
alienist, and, if the report is confirmatory, to order such
person's name to be placed upon the register.
N.B.--In the case of sections 1, 2, and 3 the Department would apply to
a Magistrate for an order to register the person concerned. In section 4
the process would be automatic.
* * * * *
The Committee consider the machinery suggested for the purpose of
compilation of the register very suitable, subject to such modifications
as may be found necessary in practice, but have come to the conclusion
that it would be preferable for many reasons to keep cases of this kind,
as far as possible, free from Courts, a large part of whose work
consists in trying persons charged with criminal offences, and to follow
the plan which seems to be working very well in several American
States--namely, to set up a Board of experts to deal with these cases.
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