Criminal Lawyers for Section 14 Mental Health Applications

Criminal Lawyers for Section 14 Applications

We are Sydney’s best criminal lawyers to have your criminal charges dismissed under section 14 (formerly section 32), which is NSW’s mental health legislation that applies to the Local Court and, on appeal, the District Court.

Our criminal lawyers, who are experts at arguing that people who suffer from mental health or illness should have their criminal charges dealt with by a mental health order under section 14, meaning they receive no criminal record or other punishment.

We have connections to the best barristers, psychiatrists, psychologists, and counsellors, whom we can refer you to so you have the best chance of making a successful application.

What offences have we obtained section 14 orders for?

Our criminal lawyers, with 500+ five-star Google reviews, have been successful in obtaining section 14 orders, including but not limited to:

• Assaults, intimidation, and domestic violence offences.
• Contravening Apprehended Violence Orders.
• Sexual offences, including sexual touching and possession of child abuse material.
• Dishonesty offences such as stealing (larceny), break and enter, and fraud.
• Low to High Range driving and drug driving.
• Driving unlicensed, suspended, or disqualified.

How do we obtain section 14 orders for our clients?

We obtain section 14 orders by working closely with our clients to create applications with high success prospects. This often involves preparing your case and laying out a map to success from your free first consultation.

The steps we take to deliver you the result include:

• Referrals to general practitioners, psychiatrists, psychologists, and counsellors to commence treatment immediately if you have not already. We can also refer you to residential rehabilitation centres and drug and alcohol treatment programs if required.
• Negotiations with police to obtain less serious charges and a more favourable facts sheet. However, it should be remembered that you do not need to plead guilty to make a section 14 application.
• Sourcing medical records, past and present, that document your treatment history.
• Compiling documents, such as employment contracts, to show the effect of a conviction.
• Assisting with references and drafting affidavits to strengthen your application and show the court your true character.
• Obtaining the best forensic psychological and psychiatric reports from reputable experts whose opinions the court gives real weight to.
• Ensuring the forensic psychological and/or psychiatric report has a treatment plan that a court can have confidence in.
• Making carefully crafted oral and written submissions about why your case should be dismissed pursuant to section 14.

What is a Mental Health Order under section 14/32?

A mental health order, under section 14 of the Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020, diverts people out of the criminal system and into the care of their treating psychologist, psychiatrist, or general practitioner within the community. This order was previously known as section 32.

Who is eligible for a Mental Health Order under section 14?      

A Magistrate will make an order under section 14 if it appears to the Magistrate that the person has (or had at the time of the alleged commission of the offence to which the proceedings relate) a mental health impairment or a cognitive impairment, or both.

The Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020 No 12

A “person has a mental health impairment” if:

1. The person has a temporary or ongoing disturbance of thought, mood, volition, perception or memory, and
2. The disturbance would be regarded as significant for clinical diagnostic purposes, and
3. The disturbance impairs the emotional well-being, judgment or behaviour of the person.

A mental health impairment may arise from any of the following disorders, but may also arise for other reasons:

1. an anxiety disorder,
2. an affective disorder, including clinical depression and bipolar disorder,
3. a psychotic disorder,
4. a substance-induced mental disorder that is not temporary.

A person does not have a mental health impairment for the purposes of this Act if the person’s impairment is caused solely by:

1. The temporary effect of ingesting a substance, or
2. a substance use disorder.

A “person has a cognitive impairment” if:

1. The person has an ongoing impairment in adaptive functioning, and
2. The person has an ongoing impairment in comprehension, reason, judgment, learning or memory, and
3. The impairments result from damage to or dysfunction, developmental delay or deterioration of the person’s brain or mind that may arise from a condition set out in subsection (2) or for other reasons.

A cognitive impairment may arise from any of the following conditions but may also arise for other reasons–

1. Intellectual disability,
2. borderline intellectual functioning,
3. dementia,
4. an acquired brain injury,
5. drug or alcohol related brain damage, including foetal alcohol spectrum disorder,
6. autism spectrum disorder.

What will the court consider in deciding whether to give me a section 14/32?

Our criminal lawyers will submit that the Magistrate should make the section 14 order because it is more appropriate to deal with it that way than to sentence you.

The case of Confos v DPP (NSW) [2004] NSWSC 1159 is a widely accepted authority as to the way a Magistrate should approach an application made pursuant to section 32. His Honour Howie J, in that case,e held at [17]:

In order to determine whether it is more appropriate to deal with the applicant under Part 3 the Magistrate has to perform a balancing exercise; weighing up, on one hand, the purposes of punishment and, on the other, the public interest in diverting the mentally disordered offender from the criminal justice system. It is a discretionary judgment upon which reasonable minds may reach different conclusions in any particular case. But it is one that cannot be exercised properly without due regard being paid to the seriousness of the offending conduct for which the defendant is before the court. Clearly the more serious the offending, the more important will be the public interest in punishment being imposed for the protection of the community and the less likely will it be appropriate to deal with the defendant in accordance with the provisions of the Act. It should be emphasised that what is being balanced is two public interests, to some extent pulling in two different directions. It is not a matter of weighing the public interest in punishment as against the private interest of the defendant in rehabilitation.

The Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020 provides that, in deciding whether it would be more appropriate to deal with you by way of a section 14 order or sentence, the magistrate may consider the following:

Can serious offences be dealt with by section 14?’

In DPP v El Mawas [2006] NSWCA 154, his Honour McColl JA held that orders like section 14 are available to serious offenders as long as it is regarded, in the Magistrate’s opinion, as more appropriate than the alternative. When considering the seriousness of the offending conduct and whether the charges should be dismissed, His Honour held that the degree to which a defendant is disabled from being able to control that conduct, due to mental health, is a relevant consideration.

Will I have a criminal record if the court makes a section 14 order?

No.

When a court makes a section 14 order, it dismisses the charges against you. This means you have no criminal record or conviction and do not receive any other punishment, such as a fine or imprisonment.

What will happen if I am subject to a section 14 order?

If a court makes a section 14 order, it can do so unconditionally or with conditions.

Conditions of the mental health order under section 14/32 can include to:

1. Continue treatment with your general practitioner, psychiatrist or psychologist. 
2. Obey all reasonable directions from the general practitioner, psychiatrist, or psychologist. 
3. Take prescribed medication.
4. Abstain from drugs and/or alcohol and submit to testing.

If you fail to comply with the section 14 order, the responsible person (usually a general practitioner, psychiatrist, or psychologist) will be expected to notify the court. If this happens, you will be required to attend court, likely have the order revoked, and be sentenced.

How long is a mental health order under section 14/32?

An order under section 14 can be up to 12 months.

The length of the order pursuant is a matter that the court is ‘entitled and, indeed obliged’ to consider in deciding whether to divert a matter or deal with it in accordance with law: Quinn v DPP [2015] NSWCCA 331.

How much will it cost me to make a section 14 application?

We offer fixed fees for section 14 applications. The cost typically ranges from $3,300 to $6,600 depending on the seriousness of the alleged offending, and experience of the solicitor appearing for you.

The psychologists and psychiatrists we use vary in price. As a general rule, psychiatric reports will cost more than psychological reports. We use a range of psychologists and psychiatrists to ensure none of our clients are stopped from running a section 14 application because they have limited financial means. 

Why use the Australian Criminal Law Group for your section 14 application?

The criminal lawyers at Australian Criminal Law Group are experts at section 14 applications and deliver results that other law firms cannot.

Our criminal lawyers have 500+ five-star Google reviews and have won many awards for our advocacy inside and outside the courtroom.

We have offices in Sydney, Parramatta, and Blacktown, offering free first consultations and fixed fees from a criminal lawyer with at least 5 years of experience appearing in section 14 applications.

 Call us today on 02 8815 8167 or send us a website enquiry to arrange your first free consultation. 

Sources:

Crimes Act 1900 No 40, Current version for 1 January 2022 to date (accessed 7 March 2022 at 21:52) https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-1900-040

AUSTlii New South Wales Consolidated Acts, classic.austlii.edu.au, accessed 22 March 2022 at 11:38am http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/

This information is intended as a general guide to law only.  It should not be relied on as legal advice, and it is recommended that you speak with a qualified lawyer about your situation.

Australian Criminal Law Group and its suppliers make every reasonable effort to ensure the accuracy and validity of the information provided on its web pages. At the time of updating, this information was correct, however, given the laws in NSW and Australia are continually changing, Australian Criminal Law Group makes no warranties or representations as to its accuracy.