Sir, - I agree with Dr Muiris Houston (The Irish Times, July 24th) when he calls for a review of mental health law on criminal matters, but it is important to record that on the civil side the Department of Health and Children has already carried out such a review and the Mental Health Bill 1999 should have passed all stages by the end of this year. While this Bill is not perfect, it will introduce many basic reforms which have been required for decades.
In English criminal cases, the court does not find the person guilty and then convene at a later date to consider the issue of diminished responsibility. Under the Homicide Act 1957, the issue is raised in the usual way during the trial and the jury has the option of eventually finding the person guilty of manslaughter rather than murder due to the defendant's diminished responsibility. In addition, in appropriate cases it remains possible under English law to find a person not guilty by reason of insanity, the modern equivalent of our "guilty but insane" verdict. It was surprising that the term "murderer" was used for Gallagher (The Irish Times, July 17th and 18th) even though he was, legally speaking, acquitted of the charges.
While the Department of Justice has been heavily criticised for the state of criminal mental health law, the courts, both in Gallagher (No.1) in 1991 and Gallagher (No.2) in 1996, also failed in my view to respond adequately to the issues raised. - Yours, etc.,
Dr Darius Whelan, Lecturer in Law, Institute of Technology, Tallaght, Dublin 24.