Scotland's Hidden Judges

Joe Morrow

Do you know someone who has ever had mental health problems? I should think every one of us does or perhaps we've even had a time when our own wasn't in too great a shape.

It's not always necessary to commit a crime before you are compulsory detained against your will. If you are considered to be so mentally ill that you require to be kept in hospital, often for a long period, and to have drugs administered to you without your permission, then you may become the subject of a 'Compulsory Treatment Order' or as it is known you may be sectioned.

Until recently it was a sheriff who approved such orders. The name of the sheriff was public knowledge. There was a certain comfort in this knowledge.

In October 2005 Scotland introduced a 'pioneering approach' to mental illness. Instead of a sheriff sitting along, the tribunal came into being: a three-person panel consisting of a legal person, a medical person and a lay person. Such was the volume of cases, the weight of mental illness afflicting our society, many such panels were required.

A new publicly funded organisation, the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland, with its own executive agency, was set up by the Scottish Government at a cost of almost £10m a year. The tribunal, in its onw words, 'makes decision, and issues orders, regarding the long-term compulsory care and treatment of people with mental disorders.' It has the status of a judicial body: it is regarded as a court.

Presumably in an attempt to appear less intimidating, the tribunal's website offers several definitions of mental illness. Under the heading 'Learning Disability', we are assured: 'In its milder form, an individual might have a bout of depression and be "fed up" but can manage to lift their spirits and go on with their day to day lives.' What being fed up has to do with learning disability only the tribunal can say.

the first president of the Tribunal resigned her post several years before the expiry date of her term of office. (Dr) Joe Morrow, another tribunal member, was appointed interim president, an appointment confirmed in October 2008.

Who is Dr Morrow? There is no biography for him on the tribunal's website. It was discovered at the time of his appointment Dr Morrow was a labour councillor in Dundee. He's a solicitor by profession and his appointment is part-time: the commitment expected by his employers is between 10 and 15 days a month.

How much is he paid? His daily rate is £620. If he works 10 days a month he earns £74,400. Ten days a month would make him the second highest-paid part-time chairman in Scottish public life; 15 days a month would make him easily the highest. No record can be found of how much he has actually received so far and in the public interest the Scottish Government should tell us.

The above is part of a comprehensive article written by Kenneth Royle for the Scottish Review. Please do read the rest of it as it is most concerning, not least these people could well take control of someone you love. Read how they handle their finances and administration. Be aware how certain cases have not been picked up by the MSM. Are we being robbed of our freedoms even more? Are those who are perhaps temporarily unable to speak for themselves being put under state control without proper and thorough investigation? I certainly think so and this tribunal needs to be investigated as it seems to work without any public accountability.

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