The Mental Deficiency Act, 1913 : together with the regulations and rules made under the provisions of that Act, the departmental circulars, the Elementary (Defectice and Epileptic Children) Acts, 1899 and 1914, and, introduction and annotations / by R.A. Leach.
- Date:
- 1914
Licence: In copyright
Credit: The Mental Deficiency Act, 1913 : together with the regulations and rules made under the provisions of that Act, the departmental circulars, the Elementary (Defectice and Epileptic Children) Acts, 1899 and 1914, and, introduction and annotations / by R.A. Leach. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![CIKOtIMSTANCES RENDEBING DEFECTIVES SUBJECT TO BE DEADT WITH. 2.—(1) A person who is a defective may be dealt with under this Act by being sent to or placed in an institution for defectives or placed under guardianship— (a.) at the instance of his parent or guardian, if he is an idiot or imbecile, or at the instance of his parent if, though f not an idiot or imbecile, he is under the age of twenty- 1 one; or (h) if in addition to being a defective he is a person— (i) who is found neglected, abandoned, or without visible means of support, or cruelly treated; or (ii) who is found guilty of any criminal offence, or who is ordered or found liable to be ordered to be sent to a certified industrial school; (hi) who is undergoing imprisonment (except imprison- ment under civil process), or penal servitude, or is under- Notes to Section 2. (1) An instiUition, that is, a State institution or certified institution (section 71) or certified house (section 49 (2) ). Subject to the limitation of section 50 (2), the term must here also be read as embracing approved homes. (1) (a) The Eoyal Commission on the Feeble-minded recommended that —excluding the “ persons of unsound mind ” class, and the “ persons men- tally infirm ’’ class, which are not included in the Act—provision should be made, following the precedent of the Idiots Act, 1886, whereby any mentally defective person under 21 years of age might be placed by the parents or guardians, or by the committee for defectives, in any registered institution or house for the mentally defective, upon the certificate in writing of a qualified medical practitioner, without the intervention of a judicial authority; and on reaching the age of 21 might, with the consent of the Central Authority, be retained after he is of full age [Recommenda- tion LII.] They also recommended [Recommendation XLIX.] that where such a person, in the opinion of the committee, was not under suitable parental or other control, and not receiving suitable training, or was cruelly treated or otherwise neglected, the committee should he able to vest in themselves “ until the child reaches the age of 21 ” all the powers and rights which the Guardians of the Poor now have in i-espect of charge- able children of persons unfit to have control of them. Sections 2 (1) (n) and 3 were drafted to meet these recommendations of the Royal Commis- sion. The measui’e, however, has been amended to exclude a guardian trom sharing the authority given to a parent to deal with a mentally de- fective child which is not an idiot or imbecile under section 1 (see follow- ing note). The procedure under which a pai-ent or guardian acts under this section will be found in section 3, but procedure may be by way of petition under section 5, as explained in the note to tliat section. Although no mention is made of the interests of the defective, it should be borne in mind that the Board of Control and visitors (see sections 12 (2) and 11) will require to be satisfied that detention in an institution or supervision under guardianship is in the interest of the defective himself, if it is to continue. “ Parent or (junrdian.—The Act defines this expression (section 71).](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29010172_0028.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
