Question regarding leave of absence and offences committed by mentally impaired accused persons managed under the Criminal Law (Mentally Impaired Accused) Act 1996. The Attorney General's response indicates data limitations and potential inaccuracies in providing a complete answer.

AnsweredQoN 193Legislative Council
Asked
14 March 2023
Portfolio
parliamentary secretary representing the Attorney General

QuestionView source ↗

CRIMINAL LAW (MENTALLY IMPAIRED ACCUSED) ACT —
OFFENDERS
193. Hon TJORN SIBMA to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Attorney General:
I refer to the cohort of 56
offenders, as of 31 December 2022, managed under the Criminal Law (Mentally
Impaired Accused) Act 1996.
(1) How many were granted a leave of
absence and/or a conditional release order?
(2) Were any of this cohort charged with an offence
while on a leave of absence or a conditional release order?
(3) Regarding (2), what was or were
the nature of this charge or charges?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the member for some notice
of the question. The following information has been provided to me by the
Attorney General.
(1) Forty-nine.
(2)–(3) Electronic
records of any charges alleged against a mentally impaired accused while
subject to a leave of absence order or conditional release order are not
retained by the Mentally Impaired Accused Review Board's case management system. Paper records would exist;
however, the cohort to which the honourable member's question
applies dates back to 1986 and would require considerable investigation to
ascertain a response. Further, the board could not be confident that following
such an investigation, any response would be
accurate as it is unable to guarantee it was notified by the Western Australia
Police Force of any and all charges alleged against a mentally impaired accused
who was undertaking board-sanctioned leave.

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